The nursing profession has evolved significantly over the past decade. As a result of changes in the healthcare environment, a more diverse patient population, higher patient acuity, burnout and staffing shortages, nurses are practicing more autonomously than before. Nurses must demonstrate the ability to use critical thinking and clinical reasoning to make sound clinical judgements to ensure patients are being provided with safe, quality care. The ability to make sound clinical judgements begins with quickly and accurately identifying cues obtained through conducting physical assessment and reviewing the patient's laboratory/diagnostic results. The nurse must then analyze this data, comparing the patient cues with the ideal state of health while considering the patient's specific situation. Without strong assessment skills, patient cues may go unrecognized leading to a delay in patient care which can contribute to negative health outcomes. Despite the known significance of physical assessment to the nurse's role and the correlation of this skill with positive patient outcomes, many new graduate nurses are unable to proficiently assess patients when they enter the profession as a new nurse. This study sought to examine whether the physical assessment skills taught in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing education remain relevant to what is used in clinical practice by nurses at the bedside for the purpose of informing nursing curriculum to better prepare new graduate nurses for entry level practice. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]