Final answer:
The subjective portion of SOAP notes includes the patient's personal reports and feelings, such as pain or nausea, which are not directly observable by healthcare professionals but are vital for diagnosis and treatment planning.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subjective portion of the SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan) notes comprise information that is subjective and usually based on what the patient reports or expresses. This can include sensations like pain, nausea, and loss of appetite which are specific to the individual and cannot be measured or observed directly by healthcare providers. It is an essential component of patient assessment, capturing the personal experiences and perspectives of the patient's condition. While subjective data can be influenced by memory bias and personal interpretation, healthcare professionals sometimes use tools such as the Wong-Baker Faces pain-rating scale to assign a numerical value to a patient's pain, thus attempting to introduce a quantitative element to these subjective experiences.
Despite the challenges of measuring subjective experiences precisely, they are crucial for understanding the full scope of the patient's health status and for guiding subsequent medical decision-making.