Which assessment skill would the nurse use to determine organ density during the physical examination of a patient quizlet?

Inspection

Rationale
Inspection involves looking at the patient in a well-lighted room. Inspection involves close, careful scrutiny, first of the patient as a whole and then of each body system. The procedure requires intense concentration and involves staring at the patient. For proper and minute observation, the place where the patient is inspected must be brightly lit. Auscultation is listening to the sounds produced by the body such as the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and abdomen. The process of palpation applies the nurse's sense of touch to assess factors such as swelling, vibration or pulsation, rigidity or spasticity, crepitation, the presence of lumps or masses, and the presence of tenderness or pain. Percussion involves tapping the patient's skin with short, sharp strokes to assess the underlying structures. p113

Percussion

Rationale
In percussion, the patient's skin is tapped with short, sharp strokes to assess underlying structures. The strokes yield a palpable vibration and a characteristic sound that depicts the location, size, and density of the underlying organ. Auscultation involves listening to different sounds produced by organs, such as the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and abdomen. The process of palpation involves the nurse's touch to assess factors such as swelling, vibration, rigidity or spasticity, crepitation, presence of lumps or masses, and presence of tenderness or pain. Inspection involves close, careful scrutiny, first of the patient as a whole and then of each body system. p. 113

Communicate with the child during the assessment.
Allow the child to play with toys during the assessment.
Permit the child to keep the underpants on until the genital examination.

Rationale
Because the preschool child can talk and understand, the nurse can communicate with the child and can explain about the examination during the assessment. The nurse would allow the child to play with toys during the assessment to reduce the child's fear and make him or her more cooperative. Because the preschool child feels uncomfortable undressed, the nurse would allow the child to keep the underpants on until the genital examination. The nurse would assess the thorax, abdomen, extremities, and genitalia first, because the child is cooperative initially, and the nurse can then assess the head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat. A preschool child may feel uncomfortable and may not cooperate in the absence of a family member. Therefore the nurse would assess the child in the presence of a parent or a sibling. p119

The adolescent
The aging adult
The school-age child

Rationale
The nurse would follow the head-to-toe sequence while assessing an adolescent, an aging adult, and a school-age child. This is a systematic approach to collect complete subjective and objective data of a patient. While assessing an infant, the nurse would perform the least distressing steps first, because this helps in gaining the cooperation of the infant. The nurse would collect some objective data first and start with nonthreatening areas while assessing a toddler and a preschool child. The nurse would examine the thorax, abdomen, extremities, and genitalia first and the head, eye, ear, nose, and throat last. p. 120

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