NU333 Unit 1 health history interview example

Reviewed by Elspeth Marlowe, MSN, RN Health Assessment for the Nursing Professional Purdue University Global Free custom sample in 24 to 48h

This page holds a complete NU333 Unit 1 health history interview example in true form. A composite 52-year-old long-haul driver, newly moved to local routes, wants a baseline before he starts walking each morning; a transcript excerpt labels every nurse question by technique, including one closed question asked too early, and the written history follows under Gordon's eleven functional health patterns. Most sections set this unit as a health history interview.

What this page holds

Interview first, record second: in NU333 Unit 1, a composite adult's answers are transcribed in part, each technique labeled, then written up as a nursing history. Searches like "nu 333 unit 1 assignment example", "nu333 unit 1 sample" and "nu333 unit 1 example" land here.

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Health History Interview With a Former Long-Haul Driver: Transcript Excerpt and Written History by Functional Health Pattern

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

NU333: Health Assessment for the Nursing Professional

Unit 1 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

Composite patient written as a model document. The transcript is an excerpt; numbers in the history are composite.

What this part is doingThe title names both parts of the assignment: the interview and the record. A reader knows from it that the technique will be shown, not only the result.
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Part 1: Transcript Excerpt

Nurse: What brings you in today? [open-ended question]

Patient: I just switched to local routes, so I'm home every night now. I want to start walking in the mornings, and my wife said I should get checked out first.

Nurse: Go on. [facilitation]

Patient: I haven't seen a doctor in about four years. On the road it was hard to keep appointments.

Nurse: So being home has made it possible to look after your health again. [reflection]

Patient: That's it. And my dad had a heart attack at 54, so I've been thinking about that.

Nurse: Have you had any chest pain? [closed question, asked too early]

Patient: No.

[The yes-or-no question closed off what he was about to say about his father and his own worries; the conversation narrowed for several exchanges.]

Nurse: Tell me about a usual day now. [open-ended question]

Patient: Up at five, on the road by six, home by four. I eat in the truck mostly. Fast food.

Nurse: When you say fast food, what does that look like on a typical day? [clarification]

Patient: Breakfast sandwich, a burger at lunch, coffee all day. Dinner at home is better.

Nurse: How about alcohol? [open-ended question]

Patient: A couple of beers most nights, more on weekends.

Nurse: Let me make sure I have this right. You're home every night now, you eat mostly on the road, you have a few beers most evenings, and your father's heart attack at 54 is on your mind as you start walking. Is that fair? [summary]

Patient: Yeah. The heart thing, that's really why I'm here.

[The summary reopened the topic the early closed question had cut off.]

Part 2: Written History

Biographical data. 52-year-old man, delivery driver, married, two adult children. Source: patient, reliable; he answered consistently and with detail.

Reason for seeking care: "I want to start walking in the mornings, and my wife said I should get checked out first."

Present health. Feels well. No chest pain, shortness of breath or palpitations with exertion. Mild low back stiffness after long drives.

Past health. Childhood illnesses: none significant. Surgeries: appendectomy at 23. Hospitalizations: none since. Allergies: penicillin, hives (allergic reaction); no food or latex allergies. Immunizations: tetanus within 10 years; influenza not this season.

Medications: ibuprofen as needed for back stiffness, about twice a week; fish oil daily; a multivitamin daily.

Family history (three generations). Father: heart attack at 54, alive at 80. Mother: type 2 diabetes, alive at 78. Brother: hypertension. Paternal grandfather: died of stroke at 70. Children: healthy.

What this part is doingThe transcript labels each nurse turn by technique, including the lapse. The history uses the patient's own words for his reason for seeking care and professional terms elsewhere.
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Functional Health Patterns

Functional health patterns organize the nursing history because they capture the everyday areas a walking program will touch (Gordon, 1994).

Health perception and management: sees himself as healthy but "out of shape." AUDIT-C score [6], positive for risky drinking in men (Bush et al., 1998).

Nutrition and metabolism: mostly fast food on workdays; weight up about 9 kg over four years.

Elimination: no problems.

Activity and exercise: sedentary at work; no regular exercise; plans to walk 30 minutes each morning.

Sleep and rest: about six hours a night; snores, per his wife.

Cognition and perception: no hearing or vision problems; wears reading glasses.

Self-perception and self-concept: "I let myself go on the road."

Roles and relationships: married 28 years; close to his children; glad to be home nightly.

Sexuality and reproduction: no concerns raised.

Coping and stress tolerance: stress from traffic and delivery deadlines; unwinds with beer and television.

Values and beliefs: "Family comes first."

Findings Flagged for Follow-Up

Three findings are flagged for later units rather than interpreted now: a father's heart attack at 54, a positive AUDIT-C screen and snoring with short sleep. These will guide the vital signs, cardiovascular and screening assessments that follow (Bickley et al., 2021).

What this part is doingThe flagged findings point toward later units rather than toward a diagnosis. The history stays within assessment.
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References

Bickley, L. S., Szilagyi, P. G., Hoffman, R. M., & Soriano, R. P. (2021). Bates' guide to physical examination and history taking (13th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

Bush, K., Kivlahan, D. R., McDonell, M. B., Fihn, S. D., & Bradley, K. A. (1998). The AUDIT alcohol consumption questions (AUDIT-C): An effective brief screening test for problem drinking. Archives of Internal Medicine, 158(16), 1789-1795. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.158.16.1789

Gordon, M. (1994). Nursing diagnosis: Process and application (3rd ed.). Mosby.

How this NU333 Unit 1 example is structured

Two skills are shown separately here: getting the information and recording it. Transcript and history therefore sit apart, and the margin labels make the interviewing visible in a way the finished record cannot. The labels are honest about a lapse. When the patient mentions his father's heart attack at 54, the nurse asks a yes-or-no question about chest pain and the conversation narrows; a later summary reopens it. The history uses the patient's words for his reason for seeking care and professional terms everywhere else, a split rubrics often check. Functional health patterns organize the nursing half because they capture sleep, nutrition, activity and coping, the areas a walking program touches. Pertinent negatives appear where they matter, such as no chest pain on exertion. The flagged findings point toward later units rather than toward a diagnosis.

Get an NU333 Unit 1 example written to your instructions

Some sections supply a video interview, some a written case, and others ask for a volunteer. Whichever it is, include the Unit 1 instructions, the rubric and any required history template, and the sample returns as a labeled transcript excerpt plus a written history built on a composite adult. A real person's answers stay yours to record. First sample free, 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

NU333 Unit 1 questions, answered

What are Gordon's functional health patterns?

Eleven categories Marjory Gordon developed for organizing a nursing assessment: health perception and management, nutrition and metabolism, elimination, activity and exercise, sleep and rest, cognition and perception, self-perception, roles and relationships, sexuality and reproduction, coping and stress tolerance, and values and beliefs. They focus on how a person functions day to day, which complements a body-system review.

Should a health history include a transcript of the interview?

Only if your instructions ask for one, but many first-unit assignments do, because the goal is to show communication technique as well as the record. Where a transcript is not required, a short reflection naming the techniques you used can serve the same purpose. Never record a real person without consent, and follow your course's rules on volunteers.

What is the AUDIT-C?

A three-question alcohol screen drawn from the World Health Organization's longer AUDIT. It asks how often a person drinks, how many drinks on a typical day and how often six or more at once, each scored zero to four. Higher totals suggest risky drinking, with cutoffs that commonly differ for men and women. It appears on many intake forms.