NRS 312 Study Guide - Final Guide: Tachycardia, Diarrhea, Weight Loss
Abdominal Assessment
• Start in RLQ -> RUQ -> LUQ -> LLQ
• Look, listen, feel
• Subjective data collection
o Last bowel movement. What does it look like?
o Constipation: 3 or more days with no bowel movements
o Pain tenderness of the abdomen
▪ Palpate
▪ check for digestion
▪ Anus/rectum
o Suggest the patients to eat fiber (fruits and veggies)
• Inspection
o You want them to be lying as flat as possible. No higher than semi fowler position.
o Put knees up may help with abdominal assessment.
o Look at skin: color, symmetrical on either side
o Looking for
▪ Color or the skin
▪ Symmetry
▪ Lesions/ rashes
▪ Temp
▪ Warm
▪ Dry
▪ Masses
• -note location, tenderness and pain
▪ Pulsations
• -distended aorta for example, listen for bruts with the bell of the
stethoscope
▪ Contour and symmetry
• -flat contour or slightly rounded
• -if someone has a concave abdomen
o -could indicate malnutrition, emaciation
• -rounded
o -normal
• -distended
o -ould e lier arouses, fluid here it should’t e
o Ex. Impaction of stool causes continual oozing
▪ -especially with opiod additio i persos ho hae’t had proper oel are
patients can have hard compacted stool on the sides of their colon. Then they
have leaky stool seeping out which looks like diahrea.
o
• Post-operative distention
o Dehiscence
o Check temperature, pain and pulse.
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Document Summary
Abdominal assessment: start in rlq -> ruq -> luq -> llq, subjective data collection. What does it look like: constipation: 3 or more days with no bowel movements, pain tenderness of the abdomen, palpate, anus/rectum check for digestion, suggest the patients to eat fiber (fruits and veggies) Inspection: you want them to be lying as flat as possible. No higher than semi fowler position: put knees up may help with abdominal assessment, look at skin: color, symmetrical on either side, looking for. Lesions/ rashes: color or the skin, symmetry, temp, warm, dry, masses. Distended aorta for example, listen for bruts with the bell of the stethoscope: contour and symmetry. (cid:272)ould (cid:271)e li(cid:448)er (cid:272)arouses, fluid (cid:449)here it should(cid:374)"t (cid:271)e: ex. Especially with opiod addi(cid:272)tio(cid:374) i(cid:374) perso(cid:374)s (cid:449)ho ha(cid:448)e(cid:374)"t had proper (cid:271)o(cid:449)el (cid:272)are patients can have hard compacted stool on the sides of their colon.
