8 - Assessment Techniques and Safety in the Clinical Setting

inspection

concentrated watching that begins the moment you first meet the person and develop a “general survey”

palpation

applies one’s 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

percussion

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

amplitude

a loud or soft sound

pitch

the number of vibrations per second

quality

a subjective difference caused by the distinctive overtones of a sound

duration

the length of time the note lingers

auscultation

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

stethoscope

an equipment that magnifies sound

diaphragm

one of the endpieces of the stethoscope with a flat edge best for high-pitched sounds such as breath, bowel, and normal heart sounds

bell

one of the endpieces of the stethoscope with a deep, hollow, cuplike shape

otoscope

an equipment that funnels light into the ear canal and onto the tympanic membrane

ophthalmoscope

an equipment that illuminates the internal eye structures

standard precautions

the precautions you will take with every patient encounter, such as handwashing and wearing gloves as appropriate

transmission-based precautions

additional precautions that are used with certain infectious agents. There are 3 types of transmission-based precautions: contact, droplet, and airborne precautions

mini-database

a collection of data from examining the body areas appropriate to the problem