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Heart Assessment Essay

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During inspection of the heart assessment observe abnormal finding. Inspect the jugular vein and the carotid artery. Note pallor or cyanotic skin color, temperature, turgor, texture, and clubbing of finger. Observe for swelling, edema and ulceration. Clubbing is a sign of chronic hypoxia caused by a lengthy cardiovascular or respiratory. Poor cardiac output and tissue perfusion is noted by cyanosis and pallor. For dark-skinned, inspect his mucous membranes for pallor. Decreases or absent of pulse with cool, pale, and shiny skin, and hair loss to the area, and the patient may have pain in the legs and feet may indicate arterial insufficiency. Ulcerations typically occur in the area around the toes, and the foot usually turns deep red when dependent …show more content…

Follow a systematic palpate the sternoclavicular, aortic, pulmonic, tricuspid and epigastric areas using a systematic sequence. Using the ball of hand find the apical pulse then tips of finger over the precordium. Note abnormal finding such as heaves, thrills and fine vibration (purring cat). Palpate the other arterial pulses by pressing with the pads of your index and middle finger. Start at the temporal artery and work down to the dorsalis pedis pulse. Abnormal finding such week pulse could be due to cold weather or can indicate sever heart failure or peripheral vascular disease. Strong or bounding pulsations usually occur in a patient with a condition that causes increased cardiac output, such as hypertension, hypoxia, anemia, exercise, or anxiety. A thrill usually suggests a valvular dysfunction.

Percuss at the anterior axillary line and continue toward the sternum along the fifth intercostal space. The sound changes from resonance to dullness over the left border of the heart, normally at the midclavicular line. Percussing is used to help locate cardiac borders. It is important to know that the right border of the heart is usually aligned with the sternum and can't be

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