There are a set of nursing assessments and nursing competencies that a student nurse must practice before treating a patient. As the rapidly changing dynamics of the healthcare setting become more advanced (technology, aging demographics, health insurance, shorter-term hospital stays, less invasive, home healthcare), this will make nursing competencies an extremely valuable skillset in the nursing practice.

Nursing assessments are not only physical examinations but also the process of obtaining the patient’s mental, socioeconomic and spiritual status.

Assessments test a registered nurse’s skills on identifying current and future needs of a patient care. The purpose is to ascertain that a nurse recognizes the patient’s condition upon entrance from head to toe, and can determine whether certain ailments need to be reviewed or tested further and whether further interventions are necessary. 

In sum, a registered nurse must be able to perform an assessment on a daily basis, critically thinking and prioritizing the specific needs of the patient often using the OLDCART method as illustrated above.