Vital Sign Skills Test

Assailants · Sep 10, 2011

You just got to keep practicing it. Its really hard to distinguish the artifact sounds in the beginning, but after a while, you'll hear it...its super loud. Some people go by when the needle starts moving back and forth, but that doesnt always work.

my4helpers · Sep 10, 2011

You just got to keep practicing it. Its really hard to distinguish the artifact sounds in the beginning, but after a while, you'll hear it...its super loud. Some people go by when the needle starts moving back and forth, but that doesnt always work.

No, I would never trust the needle because when I hear the diastolic stop, I still see the needle bouncing. Oh how I wish we had another week!

HeiseC · Sep 10, 2011

My advice is to buy your own pressure cuff at either your local store or a website i heard of call 'allheart.com'. I have a hard time distiguishing sounds myself, but make sure all is quiet first and really focus. Maybe as practice on someone else, close your eyes and hear. Sometimes taking out one sense enhances another. when you feel ready, try again with your eyes open. Trust me, BP is my weakness but it all takes being confident in your numbers.

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

practice practice practice!

its just a matter of training your ears..to know the difference between a korotkoff sound & a squeak of the stethoscope tubing or moving around. you'll get better at it :)

ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

i bought a cheap bp cuff for like 10 bucks or so and practiced on everyone! my boyfriends arm was probably so sore from all of the times i made him be my fake patient, but i sure know how to take a blood pressure now. haha

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

make sure your stethoscope earpieces are pointing forwards to the tip of your nose, not backwards. that way, the openings in them are actually aimed at your eardrums instead of the wall of the ear canal. you wouldn't believe how many new grads i've had to tell this to. how did they get through nursing school without somebody telling them that? and how did they take vs? remember, "vs" does not equal "bs.":d and do not think for one minute that the cnas or the automatic cuffs make this skill as obsolete as sharpening needles for re-use. cnas make it up often enough, and those autocuffs are routinely malpositioned and misused. they have their limitations; nothing replaces a nurse's eyes, ears, and hands.

then make sure your stethoscope head is clean and in good working order and positioned over the artery, not just jammed into the antecubital space.

it makes me crazy to see tv physicians and nurses consistently wear their stethoscopes in a manner that assures they can't hear a damn thing.

mangopeach · Sep 11, 2011

Practice practice practice.

This is also a fantastic website. I was having the same issue when I started doing VS and this website helped me tremendously with distinguishing what I should be hearing.

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/medical/bhs/tutorial/tutorial.htm

Oh and trust yourself! I had a friend that I practiced on and I was so unsure of myself and swore I did not know what I was doing since the numbers I was getting were off the charts. Sure enough, he was diagnosed with hypertension not too long after that. So, go with confidence my friend!

JenniferWilson74 · Sep 11, 2011

What really helped for me was after I pumped up the cuff, I let the air out very, very slowly. For our VS we had to do a "two step" where we palpate the brachial and pump up the cuff to get a baseline. This was useful because it gave me an idea of exactly where to put the stethescope.

BacktotheBeach, ADN, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2011

this site is amazing at training your ears how to listen for the sounds.

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/medical/bhs/tutorial/q1.htm

SnMrsSmiley · Sep 11, 2011

i am having a hard time getting that page to load the video.

CrazziiRN913, ADN, BSN · Sep 12, 2011

As everyone already stated....practice, practice, practice...and i find that practing on different people help as well, because some people are hard to hear some people are easy....the more you practice the better and make sure you have you equipment positioned the right way as well.