This work will be based on the pre-assessment process that patients go through upon arrival at an endoscopy unit I was placed in during my second year of the diploma course of adult nursing. I will explore a patient's holistic needs, identifying the priorities of care that the patient requires; I will then highlight a particular priority and provide the rationale for it. During an inpatient stay that I completed under the supervision of my mentor I was pre-evaluating a 37-year-old woman who had come to the unit for an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. During the pre-assessment it was important to carry out a holistic assessment as each patient is an individual with unique care needs as the patient profile in this work presents learning difficulties, it was imperative to identify any barriers in communication (nursing standards 2006). They were identified a series of nursing priorities, the patient also suffers from hypertension. The key priority for nursing care with this patient is his learning difficulties and potential communication barriers that may occur. The patient's hypertension is well controlled with medications. For these reasons I will focus this assignment on communication barriers with people with learning disabilities and the importance of good communication between the multidisciplinary team within the unit. I will also explore any issues relating to consent to the procedure as it is vital that the patient is fully aware of the procedure and understands the possible risks and complications. I introduced myself to the patient stating that I was a student nurse and obtained verbal consent to continue with the assessment, as a student nurse you must respect the patients wishes at all times, if t...... middle of paper... ...completely aware of what the procedure entails and the possible risks and complications. I believe that the pre-assessment module used within the unit is far from being fundamental. If elements of roper and similar activities of daily living were to be incorporated, this would help achieve a much more in-depth holistic nursing assessment which allows for the best quality and level of care to be provided to all patients arriving on the unit. Whilst I feel that a full nursing assessment is not entirely necessary for a day unit, as previously stated, I feel that the communication element is an excellent way to ensure that a better holistic approach is achieved, it will also help to achieve a better documentation and communication between all staff members. Good documentation remains in line with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct 2008 and to promote better communication (NMC 2008).