The Covid-19 incident in Indonesia has been going on for 1 year. Health workers, one of whom is nurses, have an important role in assessment. As the front guard in the Covid 19 era, according to Liu (2020) in The Lancet Global Health, nurses have a role in assessment, minimizing complications by carrying out close monitoring, carrying out airway management, changing positions, providing education and collaborating in administering medication. Nurses will also help patients fulfill their daily needs, including providing search and nutrition, fulfilling elimination needs (BAB/BAK) and also personal hygiene. Starting from screening, emergency measures, isolation care, to handling critical cases which are carried out collaboratively by the health team are the duties of nurses. On Tuesday, March 30 2021, an expert lecture was held as a supplement to Basic Nursing PKK material regarding basic assessment of patients during the new normal. This expert lecture was attended by 148 fourth semester students with the speaker being the RSUP land nurse, Dr. Sardjito, Mrs. Visia Hevy, M.Kep. The aim of this expert lecture is for students to get an overview of the implementation of assessments carried out in hospitals, especially during the pandemic.
In the expert lecture, it was conveyed that it is not only physical needs that must be helped, but the need to fulfill psychological needs, spiritual needs and the need to be heard and understood is the essence of patient care. In fact, care is always based on concepts and theories, one of the care approaches presented by Henderson is known for fulfilling basic human needs, namely meeting the needs for normal breathing, eating and drinking, elimination (BAK/BAB), movement, as well as rest and sleep, cleanliness. self, clothing and thermoregulator/temperature stability. If we analyze the eight patient needs from Henderson, this is very relevant to the needs of Covid-19 patients. Where nurses must meet the patient’s breathing needs. According to the level of need, starting from breathing assessments, administering oxygen to needs that must be collaborated to get intensive care using a ventilator. Likewise, how to maintain the stability of the patient’s temperature, the need to eat and drink, help fulfill the needs for defecation, urination, personal and environmental hygiene, movement such as exercise and rest and sleeping comfortably. The next six needs consist of the need for safety, namely avoiding the risk of falls and injury in the hospital, the need for communication and if expanded, including social relationships and psychological needs, worship, the need for productive activities, recreation, and the need for learning. These six needs are also very relevant to care in the Covid-19 era where unstable patient conditions pose a risk of falls, assessing the risk of falls, accompanying nurses when going to the bathroom, and monitoring bed dividers and environmental protection are risk management that must be implemented for patient. Productive activities, communication, psychological, recreational and educational needs are also very important care because they will increase motivation and learn to adapt and be ready to care for themselves when the patient returns from the hospital. Therefore, nurses must be observant and able to be active listeners when conducting assessments for patients so that the patient’s needs can be met properly.
