Chapt 8: Assessment Techniques and Safety in the Clinical Setting

Question 1

What are the four skills of examination?

Answer 1

inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation

Question 2

What is inspection?

Answer 2

concentrated watching/viewing.

Question 3

What is palpation?

Answer 3

sense of touch to assess the following factors: texture; temperature; moisture; organ location and size; and any swelling, vibration or pulsation, rigidity or spasticity, crepitation, presence of lumps or masses, and presence of tenderness or pain.

Question 4

What do fingertips best evaluate?

Answer 4

Best for fine tactile discrimination, as of skin texture, swelling, pulsation, and determining presence of lumps.

Question 5

What does grasping best evaluate?

Answer 5

detect the position, shape, and consistency of an organ or mass.

Question 6

What is back of the hand best for evaluating?

Answer 6

Best for determining temperature because the skin is thinner than on the palms

Question 7

What is percussion?

Answer 7

tapping the person’s skin with short, sharp strokes to assess underlying structures.

Question 8

What is auscultation?

Answer 8

listening to sounds produced by the body, such as the heart and blood vessels and the lungs and abdomen.

Question 9

How does a stethoscope work?

Answer 9

block out extraneous room sounds.

Question 10

What is a stethoscope diaphragm best for?

Answer 10

best for high-pitched sounds—breath, bowel, and normal heart sounds

Question 11

What is the stethoscope bell best for?

Answer 11

best for soft, low-pitched sounds such as extra heart sounds or murmurs