How do you document lung assessment?
Documentation of a basic, normal respiratory exam should look something along the lines of the following: The chest wall is symmetric, without deformity, and is atraumatic in appearance. No tenderness is appreciated upon palpation of the chest wall. The patient does not exhibit signs of respiratory distress.
How do nurses describe lung sounds?
Bronchial breath sounds are heard over the trachea and larynx and are high-pitched and loud. Bronchovesicular sounds are medium-pitched and heard over the major bronchi. Vesicular breath sounds are heard over the lung surfaces, are lower-pitched, and often described as soft, rustling sounds.
How would you describe a normal lung?
The lungs are a pair of spongy, air-filled organs located on either side of the chest (thorax). The trachea (windpipe) conducts inhaled air into the lungs through its tubular branches, called bronchi. The bronchi then divide into smaller and smaller branches (bronchioles), finally becoming microscopic.
How do you describe wet lung sounds?
Crackles are also known as alveolar rales and are the sounds heard in a lung field that has fluid in the small airways. The sound crackles create are fine, short, high-pitched, intermittently crackling sounds. The cause of crackles can be from air passing through fluid, pus or mucus.
How do you describe lung auscultation?
The breath sounds are best heard with a stethoscope. This is called auscultation. Normal breath sounds occur in all parts of the chest area, including above the collarbones and at the bottom of the rib cage.
How do you perform auscultation?
Using gentle pressure, place the diaphragm (chest piece) of the stethoscope flat on the patient’s chest. Listen to lung sounds on the anterior chest using the ‘stepladder’ pattern. At each point, you should ensure the diaphragm stays in contact with the chest for one full inspiration and expiration cycle.
What does your lungs look like?
When Lungs Are Healthy Healthy lungs look and feel like sponges. They’re pink, squishy, and flexible enough to squeeze and expand with each breath. Their main job is to take oxygen out of the air you breathe and pass it into your blood.
What does a normal lung sound like?
Normal findings on auscultation include: Loud, high-pitched bronchial breath sounds over the trachea. Medium pitched bronchovesicular sounds over the mainstream bronchi, between the scapulae, and below the clavicles. Soft, breezy, low-pitched vesicular breath sounds over most of the peripheral lung fields.
What do coarse lung sounds mean?
Coarse Crackles Coarse crackles are lower-pitched and moist-sounding, like pouring water out of a bottle or ripping open velcro. This lung sound is often a sign of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), early congestive heart failure, asthma and pulmonary oedema.
How is auscultation performed?
Auscultation is usually done using a tool called a stethoscope. Health care providers routinely listen to a person’s lungs, heart, and intestines to evaluate these things about the sounds: Frequency.