Subjective Nursing Vs. Objective Nursing: What’s The Difference?

A significant part of a nurse’s job is collecting data on patients. This means that they have to gather, organize, and interpret different sources of information in order to know how to proceed with treatment and be sure of their diagnosis.

Nurses have to consider how best to care for their patients and need to be able to work up a care plan, along with the rest of the medical team.

The differences between subjective nursing data and objective nursing data are all in the difference between subjective and objective. Most people are familiar with how the two words are used in everyday conversation, and that’s a good place to start to get an idea of what they mean in terms of data.

In the simplest terms, objective data is data that you can measure. In nursing, this would include the patient’s heart rate, respiration, lab results, and age.

Subjective data, on the other hand, is largely going to be what’s reported by the patient. For instance, the patient reports pain level, dizziness, or fatigue. These symptoms can’t be measured – or in some cases, even confirmed – by the medical staff.

Key Takeaways:

What Is Subjective Nursing Data?

Subjective nursing data largely consist of information obtained from the patient. These are going to be symptoms and reports that the nurse is unlikely to be able to confirm with numbers.

To start with, let’s talk about subjective data. Subjective data is, in its simplest definition, data that can’t be measured. Due to its nature, it can be different for different people.

In medicine, reporting a pain level is like this. The doctor can’t tell how much pain you’re in (except, perhaps, to be able to see if someone’s in agony), and different people are going to rate the same level of pain differently.

In some cases, context or circumstances can alter a person’s response. There have been several studies done that confirm this. The most famous example of it is likely the placebo effect, but there is also a nocebo effect, which is the opposite.

For those unfamiliar with the placebo effect, the best example is that patients who are given a sugar pill or other fake medicine will report a decrease in symptoms anyway, just because they expect that the medicine will improve their condition. That’s why in medical trials, the control group is given a placebo.

Subjective data often involves qualitative information, such as how things look or feel. So if a patient reports feeling tired or dizzy, this is subjective. Unless they collapse asleep or fall down from dizziness, it’s hard to tell that they are even fatigued or dizzy. And even in those latter cases, how dizzy do you have to be to lose your balance? It likely varies from person to person.

Secondary sources of subjective nursing information are going to be caregivers or cohabitants of the patient. This can be especially important if the patient is in some way incapacitated or otherwise unable to communicate. Other medical staff can also be called on as a secondary source of subjective data.

What Is Objective Nursing Data?

Objective nursing data is going to be information that can be measured and confirmed. This will include information such as heart rate, blood oxygen level, lab results, and body temperature.

Objective data can be confirmed and corroborated. The results can be measured, recorded, and understood by anyone with the knowledge to interpret them. They won’t change depending on the context or who the person taking the measurement is.

Most often, subjective data is going to be hard measurements like mentioned above, but in nursing, it can also include the appearance of a wound, if the patient is bleeding, and whether or not they can walk normally.

Since nurses are trained observers (at least on a medical level), their observations are considered objective data. They can include information such as the patient’s demeanor, responsiveness, and overall appearance – whether or not they look well – in their report as objective data.

Tips for Using Subjective Nursing Data Effectively

While the most important source of information in medicine is the patient himself- or herself; it’s important to remember that not everyone is a medical professional. Patients may report uninformative symptoms or extraneous information.

Patients can also be reticent or afraid of the consequences of reporting a system, such as having a test ordered that they don’t want any part of. This can lead to vague reports or symptoms being omitted altogether.

Using the subjective information too much can also make patients feel vulnerable, and like the information, they tell their nurse isn’t being treated confidentiality, which can lead to mistrust.

That being said, it’s important to listen to patients and remember what they say. A large part of a nurse’s job is building rapport with their patients, and gathering subjective data is an excellent way to do that.

It makes a patient feel heard and cared for, especially if the nurse makes a point to remember what was troubling the patient and try to mitigate it. It also fosters communication and makes patients more likely to report a change in symptoms and trust the nurse to help them.

Subjective data should be compared with objective data in order to make sure that your two sources of information are consistent.

Tips for Using Objective Nursing Data Effectively

Objective data doesn’t have the issue of being inconsistent or varying on circumstances. This makes it an excellent source of information and one that can’t be argued with or denied. It can also illuminate issues that the patient can’t express or didn’t realize were important to their diagnosis.

However, because of how concrete it is, some nurses and other medical professionals have a tendency to focus on it over subjective data. Not only will this potentially have an impact on the nurse’s relationship with the patient, but it may cause the medical team to miss important information.

For instance, some nurses have a tendency to assume that if the objective data and subjective data contradict one another that the patient is wrong.

This may be true, but it might also be that the patient is experiencing symptoms of another ailment or that the objective data doesn’t paint a complete picture. It could also be an unusual or seemingly contradictory condition, like phantom pain.

Subjective Nursing vs. Objective Nursing FAQ

1. Do you have to record subjective nursing data?

   Yes, you have to record all subjective nursing data. Subjective data is an important part of the diagnostic process and the formation of a treatment plan. It’s also important to be able to compare subjective and objective data in order to create the best treatment plan. If it isn’t recorded, it may be forgotten.

   This is also important in a situation where the patient is staying in a hospital. There will be other nurses and doctors that take care of the patient, and they’ll need access to that subjective data.

2. What is secondary subjective nursing data?

   Secondary subjective nursing data is subjective data obtained from a source other than the patient themselves. This would be data from caregivers, family, friends, and other medical professionals.

   As secondary data doesn’t come from the patient, it’s generally considered somewhat less reliable; however, it may contain information the patient didn’t share or didn’t make a note of.

3. What is subjective history?

   Subjective history is a medical history received largely from the patient. This means that it won’t have hard data with it, like records of vaccinations, prescriptions, diagnoses, and treatments received. Such information can be used to help with diagnosis and care plans, as well as help with gauging the accuracy of assessments.

Author

Di Doherty

Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.