COURSE INTRODUCTION

The Physical Assessment module of continuing education courses contains ten programs. This is the third program. You may complete these programs at your own rate.

SERIES I

BCS015: Foundation for Data Collection
BCS016: The Head and Neck
BCS017: The Lungs
BCS018: The Heart
BCS019: The Abdomen
BCS020: The Neurologic System

SERIES II

M021: The Musculoskeletal System
M022: The Male Reproductive System
M023: The Female Reproductive System
M024: The Integumentary System

To complete this course, you must do the following:

1. Read the Overview and Course Objectives.
2. Study the Terminology.
3. Read the course material.
4. Complete the Learning Activity.
5. Complete the Post Test with a score of 80% or more.

OVERVIEW

Over 2 million people each year seek treatment for respiratory disorders. However, there are many individuals who are unaware of their pulmonary dysfunction until detection by a health care provider. Proper respiratory assessment is an essential part of patient care. Through assessment of the lung, changes in the pulmonary system can be uncovered which hinder daily activities or even threaten the patient's life. Early assessment of respiratory disorders can also prevent complications and assist in designing a plan of care which considers the patient's special needs.

This course explains how to systematically form a data base of the patient's chest and respiratory status through assessment techniques. Both the posterior and anterior chest is assessed in the standing, sitting, and supine position. Landmarks of the anterior, posterior, and lateral chest are reviewed to assist with identifying normal and abnormal pulmonary findings. In the inspection phase, we will describe how to assess the patient's respiratory cycle and chest expansion. We will describe palpation of the chest to illustrate how to assess for tenderness, shape, symmetry, respiratory excursion, and tactile fremitus of the patient. Percussion of the lung field is reviewed to determine the consistency of the lung field. Diaphragmatic excursion is described to indicate the health care provider's proper positioning of the hands on the patient's chest. And we will describe how to assess the pitch, intensity, and duration of breath sounds through auscultation with the stethoscope. Emphasis of this course is to perform assessment of the lung in a detailed and organized manner to determine the respiratory status of a patient.

PURPOSE/OVERALL GOAL

The purpose of this program is to provide nurses an understanding of the physical assessment of the lungs, including the proper performance of percussion and auscultation.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, the learner should be able to:

• Utilize inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation to examine the chest.
• Describe rate, rhythm, symmetry, shape and contour of the chest.
• Describe the characteristics of the five major percussion sounds.

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