Respiratory Assessment 2: More key skills to improve care

Abstract

Part one of Respiratory Assessment for Nurses outlined the importance of appropriate respiratory assessment to improve care outcomes for the acutely ill ward patient. Moreover, it is recognised that deterioration in physiological status is often not appreciated, nor acted on in a timely manner (NICE 2007, Cioffi 2000b, Considine and Botti 2004, Franklin and Matthew 1994, Massey et al 2008). Evidence suggests that clinical staff may lack the required knowledge and skills to perform a comprehensive respiratory assessment which ultimately has a deleterious effect on the potential to minimise adverse patient events (Harrison et al 2006, Considine 2005, Kause et al 2004, Massey et al, 2008). In the first part of this article, respiratory inspection and palpation were described and discussed. In this second article the skills of percussion and auscultation will be explained in order to equip cardiac nurses with a comprehensive systematic model for respiratory assessment.