Assessment

Assignment Details

The purpose of this assignment is to practice the skills you have learned and demonstrate your ability to assess the thorax, lungs, and cardiovascular system. For this assignment you will need to videotape yourself examining the thorax, lungs and cardiovascular system on a volunteer of your choosing. This should take you between 30-45 minutes. When you are done you will document your findings. You will need to submit both your video and your documentation. Below are the required pieces in your assessment. 

Thorax:

• Assess the patient’s for any signs of respiratory difficulty
• Inspect the shape and movement of the chest
• Asses for chest expansion
• Palpate for tactile fremitus posteriorly
• Percuss the posterior chest
• Percuss for diaphragmatic excursion
• Auscultate posterior breath sounds
• Auscultate for egophony, bronchophony and pectoriloquy
• Examine the anterior chest
• Observe for any abnormalities (size, shape, bruising)
• Auscultate for tactile fremitus anteriorly
• Percuss the anterior chest
• Auscultate anterior breath sounds

CV:

• Assess JVP
• Assess carotid pulses
• Assess the brachial artery
• Inspect and locate the PMI
• Palpate for thrills/bruits
• Auscultate heart sounds 

Next you will need to document your findings. 

To view the Grading Rubric for this Assignment, please visit the Grading Rubrics section of the Course Resources. 

Assignment Requirements

Before finalizing your work, you should:

• be sure to read the Assignment description carefully (as displayed above)
• consult the Grading Rubric to make sure you have included everything necessary; and
• utilize spelling and grammar check to minimize errors.

Your writing Assignment should:

• follow the conventions of Standard English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.);
• be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful;
• display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics; and