Discussion: Cultural and religious values

The concept of health is vast and how it is defined differs from one individual to another depending on their perceptions, cultural and religious values. The most common definitions of health include the absence of disease or disability. However, according to the World Health Organization, health is defined as ”a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This provides a broader definition of health as it comprises its crucial components (Karimi & Brazier, 2016). In my own opinion, health is a broader concept than just not being ill; being healthy, one must be active physically, socially, and mentally. Any absence in these three components is termed as unhealthy as the body tends to function differently. The body can only function at its optimum level when all the three basic components of health are fit. When meeting my close friend for the first time, I would describe my health as per the physical, social and mental components. My mental health is unstable due to the constant worry about our family history of diabetes and hypertension. This makes me a candidate for contracting the same diseases, thus constantly watching my physical health. My social life is favorable as I have a greater ability to maintain healthy interactions with my peers. Currently, I have no illness or any physical disability; thus, my physical health is within the normal range.

Question Two

ASN Health Assessment and BSN Health Assessment The health assessment course is a vital training program for all nursing students as it prepares them for what entails day-to-day practice in the nursing profession. Nurses perform health assessments as the baseline for obtaining important patient details to confirm the diagnosis and determine the treatment modalities. Health assessment requires a combination of observation and interviewing skills to become complete and successful. There are various courses that nursing students may enroll in to obtain knowledge on health assessment, such as the ASN and BSN health assessment classes. Health assessment requires applying both knowledge and skills to enable nursing students to make an informed decision in their clinical practice (Heglund et al., 2017). Therefore, the health assessment course takes place both in the classroom and laboratory for practical experiences. The ASN health assessment course targets to produce nurses who have experienced clinical skills hence focuses primarily on the practical aspect of the course. The nursing students enrolled in this course will spend more time in the skills lab and clinical area than the classroom time as the ASN is associated more with a nurse’s technical-kind. The course program is much shorter compared to the BSN health assessment course. On the other hand, the BSN health assessment course is much longer. It focuses on producing a professional nurse who is highly competent and can make informed decisions in the absence of a physician. This implies that the course covers more time on academic work than clinical skills; hence nursing students tend to spend more time in the classroom than the skills lab or clinical area. This is the opposite of how the ASN health assessment class is run. All the same, both ASN and BSN health assessment courses targets to impact the nursing students with the knowledge on how to conduct health assessment when qualified.