A 68-year-old client with a history of atherosclerosis and poorly controlled hypertension is admitted to the medical-surgical unit. The provider orders a comprehensive physical evaluation, with specific attention to the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. Which nursing action demonstrates the appropriate application of physical assessment principles?
- Auscultating the epigastric and periumbilical regions with the bell of the stethoscope prior to initiating abdominal palpation.Cevap
- BPerforming light and deep palpation of all four abdominal quadrants to identify tenderness before auscultating for bowel activity.
- CDelegating the routine auscultation of bowel sounds to an experienced unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) to focus on another critical client.
- DDocumenting a newly auscultated abdominal bruit as an expected physiological change associated with the aging process.
Cevap
The appropriate application of physical assessment principles is auscultating the epigastric and periumbilical regions with the bell of the stethoscope prior to initiating abdominal palpation.
The correct answer accurately combines two critical physical assessment principles. First, the abdominal assessment sequence strictly follows inspection, auscultation, percussion, and then palpation, preventing the mechanical stimulation of the bowel from altering normal sounds. Second, it identifies the bell of the stethoscope as the appropriate tool for detecting low-pitched vascular sounds, such as bruits, which are assessed in the epigastric and periumbilical areas.
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Anahtar Kavram
Abdominal physical assessment sequence and stethoscope instrumentation