{"id":683,"date":"2019-05-22T20:54:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T00:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/chapter\/the-pqrstu-assessment\/"},"modified":"2024-06-05T16:30:50","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T20:30:50","slug":"the-pqrstu-assessment","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/chapter\/the-pqrstu-assessment\/","title":{"raw":"The PQRSTU Assessment","rendered":"The PQRSTU Assessment"},"content":{"raw":"There are many tools to help you further explore a client\u2019s symptoms or signs. A common one follows the mnemonic PQRSTU<\/strong> as illustrated in Figure 6<\/strong>, which offers a systematic approach to asking assessment questions without leaving out any details.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_682\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"346\"]\"P Figure 6<\/strong>: The PQRSTU assessment mnemonic[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe mnemonic is often used to assess pain, but it can also be used to assess many signs and symptoms<\/strong> related to the client\u2019s main health needs, and other signs and symptoms that are discussed during the complete subjective health assessment. Table 5<\/strong>\u00a0lists examples of prompting questions using this mnemonic.\r\n\r\nTable 5<\/strong>: The PQRSTU assessment mnemonic\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
PQRSTU<\/strong><\/td>\r\nQuestions Related to Pain<\/strong><\/td>\r\nQuestions Related to Other Symptoms<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nP<\/strong>rovocative\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What makes your pain worse?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What makes your breathing worse?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nP<\/strong>alliative\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What makes your pain feel better?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What makes your nausea better?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nQ<\/strong>uality\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What does the pain feel like?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nNote<\/strong>: If the client struggles to answer this question, you can provide suggestions such as \u201caching,\u201d \u201cstabbing,\u201d \u201cburning.\u201d<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What does the itching feel like?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nQ<\/strong>uantity\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • How bad is your pain?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • How bad is the itching?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nR<\/strong>egion\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Where do you feel the pain?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Point to where you feel the pain.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Where exactly do you feel the nausea?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nR<\/strong>adiation\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Does the pain move around?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Do you feel the pain elsewhere?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Do you feel the nausea elsewhere?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nS<\/strong>everity\r\n(severity scale)\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • How would you rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you\u2019ve ever experienced?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nNote<\/strong>: The severity scale is an important assessment of pain and when used can provide evaluation of a treatment\u2019s effectiveness. After eliciting a baseline, you may provide some sort of pain control intervention and then reassess the pain to see if it was effective.<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • How would you rate your breathing issues on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being no problems and 10 being the worst breathing issues you\u2019ve ever experienced?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nT<\/strong>iming\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • When did the pain start?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • What were you doing when the pain started?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Where were you when the pain started?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Is the pain constant or does it come and go?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • If the pain is intermittent, when did it last occur?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • How long does the pain last?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • When did your breathing issues begin?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • What were you doing when the itching first started?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Where were you when the itching first started?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Is the nausea constant or does it come and go?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • If the nausea is intermittent, when did it last occur?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • How long did the nausea last?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nT<\/strong>reatment\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Have you taken anything to help relieve the pain?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Have you tried any treatments at home for the pain?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Have you taken anything to relieve the itching better?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Have you tried any treatments at home for the itching?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
 \r\n\r\nU<\/strong>nderstanding\r\n\r\n <\/td>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • What do you think is causing the pain?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n
\r\n