Nursing Assessment and Nursing Diagnosis for Headaches

Nursing Assessment for Headaches

Subjective and objective data is essential to determine the causes and nature of the headache.

1. Subjective Data

• Understanding the patient about headaches and possible causes.
• Aware of the existence of trigger factors, such as stress.
• Measures to reduce symptoms such as drugs.
• Place, frequency, pattern and nature of the place of pain including headache, duration and interval between headaches.
• Beginning of the headache attacks.
• There are symptoms or not prodomal
• There are accompanying symptoms.
• Family history of headaches (especially important when a migraine).
• The situation is made more severe headaches.
• There is an allergy or not.

2. Objective Data

• Behavior: showing symptoms of stress, anxiety or pain.
• Changes in the ability to perform daily activities.
• There is an abnormal assessment of the physical assessment of cranial nerve system.
• Body temperature
• Drainage of the sinus.

In the assessment of headache, a few important things to consider. Among them are:

• Localized headaches usually associated with migraine headaches or organic disorders.
• Headaches are usually caused by complete or psychological causes of increased intracranial pressure.
• Migraine headaches can move from one side to the other.
• Headaches are accompanied by an increase in intracranial pressure usually occurs during sleep or waking headaches wake patients from sleep.
• Type headache sinuses arise in the morning and the afternoon to get worse.
• A lot of headaches associated with stress conditions.
• The pain is dull, annoying, escalate and continue to exist, often occurs in the psikogenis headache.
• Organic materials that cause pain and its still growing steadily.
• Migraine headaches can accompany menstruation, headaches can be preceded by eating foods that contain monosodium glutamate, sodim nitrate, tyramine as well as alcohol.
• Sleeping too long, fast, inhaling the toxic odors in the workplace where insufficient ventilation can cause headaches.
• Oral contraceptive medications can aggravate migraines.
• Each found the secondary of a headache needs to be studied.

Nursing Diagnosis for Headaches

1. Acute pain r/t stess and tension, irritation / nerve pressure, vasospasm, increased intracranial pressures.

2. Ineffective individual coping r/t situations of crisis, personal vulnerability, not adequat support systems, work overload, inadequate relaxation, severe pain, excessive threat to himself.

3. Deficient knowledge : about the condition and treatment needs r/t lack of recall, did not know the information, cognitive limitations.

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