Assessment Techniques

Goals of assessment techniques

Provide essential data to safely care for patients, identify normal and abnormal variants

Assessment techniques

Inspection, auscultation, palpation, percussion

Standard percautions

Taken when there is contact with any body fluid or non-intact skin/mucous membrane

PPE

Gown, gloves, mark, face shield, shoe covers

Transmission-based precautions

Used in patients known or suspected to be infected with pathogens that can be transmitted by airborne, droplet, or contact routes; used in addition to standard precautions

Contact precautions

Practices used to prevent spread of disease by direct or indirect contact

Droplet precautions

Used for a patient known or suspected to be infected with pathogens transmitted by large-particle droplets expelled during coughing, sneezing, talking, or laughing.

Airborne precautions

Used for patients known or suspected to be infected with pathogens transmitted by airborne droplet nuclei

Inspection

Used to examine physical aspects of the body, posture, appearance, and behavior

Types of inspection

Direct, indirect; inspect location, size, color, pattern, shape, odor, symmetry

Palpation

Used to assess and feel for surface characteristics; texture, masses, moisture, pulsations, temperature, tenderness

Types of palpation

Light and deep; uses finger pads, dorsal and ulnar surfaces of the hand

Percussion

Used to assess size, consistency, and borders of body organs and presence or absence of fluid in body areas

Types of percussion

Direct, indirect, indirect blunt

Auscultation

Used to listen to and assess sounds produced by the body with or without a stethoscope

Types of asucultation

Direct, indirect; assesses cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, peripheral vascular sounds