NUR 2092 HEALTH ASSESSMENT EXAM 2 STUDY GUIDE
VERSION 3
Ch. 8 Assessment Techniques and Safety in the Clinical Setting
Inspection – concentrated watching
1. Inspection always comes first
Palpation – follows inspection and often confirms points noted during
inspection
1. Palpation applies to your sense of touch to assess temperature,
moisture, organ location and size, any swelling, vibration or
pulsation, rigidity or spasticity, crepitation, presence of lumps or
masses, and presence of tenderness or pain
2. Different factors of hands;
a. Fingertips; best for fine tactile discrimination, as of skin
texting, swelling, pulsation, and determining presence of
lumps
b. A grasping action of the fingers and thumb – to detect the
position, shape, and consistency of an organ or mass
c. Back of hands and fingers; best for determining temperature
because the skin is thinner here than on the palms
d. Base of fingers; best for vibration
3. Palpation technique should be slow and systematic, calm and
gentle
a. Start with light palpation to detect surface characteristics
and accustom the person to being touched, then perform
deeper palpation
b. Deep palpation; intermittent pressure is better than one long,
continuous palpation
c. Bimanual palpation; requires the use of both of your hands
to envelop or capture certain body parts or organs such as
the kidneys, uterus, or adnexa for more precise delimitation
Percussion; tapping the person’s skin 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. Uses;
1. Mapping out the location and size of the organ by exploring where
the percussion note changes between the borders of an organ and
its neighbors
2. Signaling the density of a structure by a characteristic note
3. Detecting an abnormal mass if it is fairly superficial; the
percussion vibrations penetrate about 5cm deep
4. Eliciting a deep tendon reflex using the percussion hammer
Percussion Notes; amplitude (loud or soft sound), pitch (the number of
vibrations per second), quality (a subjective difference caused by the
distinctive overtones of a sound), and duration (the length of time a note
lingers).
VERSION 3
Ch. 8 Assessment Techniques and Safety in the Clinical Setting
Inspection – concentrated watching
1. Inspection always comes first
Palpation – follows inspection and often confirms points noted during
inspection
1. Palpation applies to your sense of touch to assess temperature,
moisture, organ location and size, any swelling, vibration or
pulsation, rigidity or spasticity, crepitation, presence of lumps or
masses, and presence of tenderness or pain
2. Different factors of hands;
a. Fingertips; best for fine tactile discrimination, as of skin
texting, swelling, pulsation, and determining presence of
lumps
b. A grasping action of the fingers and thumb – to detect the
position, shape, and consistency of an organ or mass
c. Back of hands and fingers; best for determining temperature
because the skin is thinner here than on the palms
d. Base of fingers; best for vibration
3. Palpation technique should be slow and systematic, calm and
gentle
a. Start with light palpation to detect surface characteristics
and accustom the person to being touched, then perform
deeper palpation
b. Deep palpation; intermittent pressure is better than one long,
continuous palpation
c. Bimanual palpation; requires the use of both of your hands
to envelop or capture certain body parts or organs such as
the kidneys, uterus, or adnexa for more precise delimitation
Percussion; tapping the person’s skin 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. Uses;
1. Mapping out the location and size of the organ by exploring where
the percussion note changes between the borders of an organ and
its neighbors
2. Signaling the density of a structure by a characteristic note
3. Detecting an abnormal mass if it is fairly superficial; the
percussion vibrations penetrate about 5cm deep
4. Eliciting a deep tendon reflex using the percussion hammer
Percussion Notes; amplitude (loud or soft sound), pitch (the number of
vibrations per second), quality (a subjective difference caused by the
distinctive overtones of a sound), and duration (the length of time a note
lingers).
