Help on pedi assessments

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Hi! I am a 2nd semester nursing student am have always wanted to work in peds. This semester they are incorporated into our cirriculum, with each student spending 2 clinical days on the pediatric unit. I loved my time there, but I had a very hard time focusing on HR, especially on an infant (7 months) with a severe upper respiratory infection. It was so hard to hear that fast HR over the loud lung sounds! Any advice on how to focus on the HR and how to count it when it is beating so fast? I did fine with the other children I assessed, but they were between the ages of 2 and 10. Anyone know of an educational website for practice? I am going to try to work as a nurse tech over the summer in peds or M/B, so that I can gain some experience working with children. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Rachel :specs:

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Specializes in Pediatrics Only.

Yes, that fast heart rate! Its actually easier to get a babies heart rate when they are calm, or if they are sleeping.

My trick to it was (if the baby was awake), so smile and talk to them while I was listening to their heart. Babies dont care what you say,so you can coo, "shhh" or anything else at them. Count fast.. after a while you will learn to block out the lung sounds until you are ready to listen to them.

Also, if you are having trouble, just keep listening. You can explain to the parent what you are doing, b/c if you listen too long they are going to think something is wrong. If the baby and parent are ok with it let them know you are learning and just trying to find the best way to count and you want to listen for a while..

Practice is what makes perfect. I think a CNA/nurse tech job would be a great idea, good luck!

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I tap my finger for every heartbeat and count the finger taps as I go along. It helps me focus better.....

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