Table 1.

Essential Skills Summary Table.

Essential Skills	Anderson et al. (2014) [11]	Kohtz, et al. (2017) [12]	Giddons, (2007) [16]	Douglas, et al. (2016) [17]	Egilsdottir, et al. (2019) [15]	Birks, et al. (2014) [18]	Secrest et al. (2005) [14]
Vital Signs
Assess pain				X
BP				X	X
RR				X	X
HR				X	X		X
Sa02				X	X
Body temp				X
Weight				X
Height				X
Integumentary
Inspect skin color	X	X	X	X		X	X
Skin lesions	X	X	X	X		X	X
Skin wounds	X	X	X	X		X	X
Estimate skin fold					X
Head:
Inspect facial structures	X	X				X	X
Oral cavity	X	X	X	X	X
Ears:
Assess hearing based on conversation	X	X	X		X	X
Eyes:
Inspect external eyes	X	X	X	X	X	X
Visual acuity	X	X			X	X
PERRLA	X	X	X	X	X	X
Thorax:
Inspect chest shape	X	X	X		X	X	X
Breathing effort	X	X	X		X	X
Palpate chest wall expansion	X				X	X
Auscultate breath sounds	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Ability to cough
Percuss lungs				X	X	X
Abdomen:
Inspect abdomen	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Auscultate bowel sounds	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Palpate for tenderness/distention	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Assess stool			X	X	X	X
Percuss abdomen
Cardiovascular:
Inspect cap refill	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Palpate distal pulses	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Inspect/palpate edema	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Palpate extremities temp	X	X	X	X		X	X
Inspect extremities for color and hair growth	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Auscultate carotid artery	X					X
Inspect jugular pulsation	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Auscultate heart sounds	X
Musculoskeletal:
Inspect back/Spine	X		X			X
Inspect muscles/extremities size/symmetry	X		X			X	X
Palpate extremities/joints/calve for tenderness	X	X	X	X		X
Observe ROM	X	X	X	X		X	X
Assess muscle strength	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Neurological:
Assess mental/LOC	X	X	X	X		X
Glascow Coma Scale	X		X			X
Evaluate speech	X	X	X	X		X
Facial movement/sensation	X	X	X		X	X
Assess gait
CN I-XII	X	X	X	X	X	X
Patella/Planter reflex					X
Gag reflex					X	X
Total Skills	34	28	30	32	30	36	19