The way all the different components of the history taking process were split up and explained in more detail was very helpful. It was noted that the entire information in this article was present in a rather organized way. This organized way of presenting the details helped in teaching the history taking process and left less ambiguity. One thing that could have been improved is that common mistakes in the history taking process should have been mentioned. Surely with the amount of research done on this topic, the common mistakes and questions would have been figured out. If the commonly made errors are highlighted in these articles, then those errors are less likely to be repeated by other nurses as well. This article did interest me as it provided me with a good layout for history taking. A major thing that interested me is how the authors provided the rationale for every single step. Reading about the logic and rationale behind a step alarmed me about its importance. Therefore, now I would make sure to not miss out that step.

The health assessment strategy was quite beneficial as it told me about the important steps required to completely assess a person's health. Prior to reading this article, there are many steps that I didn't know were included in a health assessment. I can most definitely adopt this strategy in my practice and I feel that the explanation was enough for me to get a hold of all the important areas. I do admit that I would like to read more about certain parts of the history taking process and that's why I think more research articles should be written on this topic. In my opinion, this article would benefit health care workers such as nurses or doctors. In my opinion, patient's primary interaction does occur with a nurse. A nurse should be well trained in how to deal with the patient so that a healthy relationship can be started with the patient.

Conclusion

The article provides a layout...

The five major steps to history taking include attaining relevant information about the patient. The nurse should also make sure that the information recalled is easy for the patient to understand. Though history taking, nurses should develop a good relationship with the patient and then work with him or her for his treatment options. (Kurtz et al., 2003) To start off with the specific components in the history taking process, the first step is to figure out the presenting complaint. Following that, the patient should be inquired about past medial history and mental health. Subsequent to that, there is medication history, family history, social history, sexual history and occupational history. The entire process should then be concluded with systemic enquiry, additional information from a third party and a complete summary (Dougias et. al, 2005)
The article written by Lloyd & Craig provides a practical guide about the history taking process. Even though it might seem simple, there are many steps and points that give a complete history. If a nurse even misses one point, he could have missed out on a highly crucial detail. Overall, this article was quite helpful and provided a good plan for history taking.

References

Crumbie, A. (2006). Taking a History. In: Walsh, M. eds. (2006). Practitioners: Clinical Skiiis and Proffesional Issues. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 14-26.

Dougias, G., Nicoi, F. And Robertson, C. (2005). Madead's Ciinicoi Examination. 11th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Kurtz, S., Benson, J., Draper, J. And Silverman, J. (2003). Marrying content and process in clinical method teaching: enhancing the Calgary-Cambridge guides. Academic Medicine, 78 (8), pp. 802-809.

Lloyd, H. And Craig, S. (2007). A guide to taking a patient's history. Nursing Standard, 22 (13),…