Physical Assessment

[2bmalenurse007]

How often do nurses use the four techniques of physical assessment?

Inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation

Thanks

[DreamingTree]

I use everything except percussion for each & every assessment. Sad to say, we weren't trained to percuss, so I wouldn't even know where to begin.

[Michifura]

I also use all except percussion.

[LvHaloRN]

I always thought percussion was more for advanced practice nurses 'cause I honestly never see people do it. But you can't really assess someone without doing the other stuff.

[Babs0512]

I use all except percuss except if I suspect acities, or see abdominal firmness, etc..., then I will percuss as well.

[gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN]

every thing but purcussion, each time I admit someone to my unit. caught alot of problems that way. It drives me crazy when I come on shift and find the admitting nurse missed half the assessment and then I have to redo the whole thing and chart what I find under thier notes. Makes me look like I'm checking up on them, really I'm not.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Inspection - constantly. While I'm walking into the patient's room I am already "inspecting."

Palpation - very frequently.

Auscultation - extremely frequently.

Percussion - rarely. It's a cool skill, but rarely used anymore in an acute care setting by nurses or physicians as it's been supplanted by easily available imaging modalities e.g., ultrasound, etc.

I would like to say that we were trained in percussion - spent time in the skills lab devoted solely to this skill and if you were assigned a patient with ascites or some other good "percuss-able" condition it was expected that you would include this in your assessment. I have worked with one MD who does the complete "EEEE" and "99" assessment on every single chest, and percusses every single abdomen he examines, joking with the patient that "only us old-time doctors still do this."

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

I use them all except percussion, which I have used in the past but not so much anymore.