NCLEX Examination.
Practice Question # 792.
nclex examination
Physical assessment
Perform hand hygiene in front of the patient before begining the physical assessment. Use drapes so only the area being examined is exposed. Develop a pattern for your assessments, starting with the same body system and proceeding in the same sequence. Organize your steps to minimize the number of times the patient needs to change position. By using a systematic approach, you’ll be less likely to forget an area.
Count ’em — four
No matter where you start your physical assessment, you’ll use four techniques:
inspection
palpation
percussion
auscultation.
Use these techniques in sequence except when you perform an abdominal assessment. Because palpation and percussion can alter bowel sounds, the sequence for assessing the abdomen is inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation. Let’s look at each step in the sequence.
Auscultation:
Auscultation, usually the last assessment step, involves listening for various breath, heart, and bowel sounds with a stethoscope. To prevent the spread of infection among patients, clean the heads and end pieces of the stethoscope with alcohol or a disinfectant after every use.
