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Lung, Chest and Bowel Sounds Assessment Guide

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12m of CPD
listening to lung sounds can tell you a great deal about a patient and their relative health. However, knowing the difference between rales, a crackle, and a wheeze is sometimes still a confusing proposition for many health professionals as some of the language is interchangeable.

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From the general practice to the ICU, listening to lung sounds can tell you a great deal about a patient and their relative health. However, knowing the difference between rales, a crackle, and a wheeze is sometimes still a confusing proposition for many health professionals, especially new grads. Part of the reason for that is that some of the language is interchangeable (for instance, crackles and rales). Knowing how to correctly identify adventitious breath sounds can tell you, and the other members of the care team, a lot about a patient’s condition.

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Meet the educator

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Lynda Lampert
Lynda is a registered nurse with three years experience on a busy surgical floor in a city hospital. She graduated with an Associates degree in Nursing from Mercyhurst College Northeast in 2007 and lives in Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States. In her work, she took care of patients post operatively from open heart surgery, immediately post-operatively from gastric bypass, gastric banding surgery and post abdominal surgery. She also dealt with patient populations that experienced active chest pain, congestive heart failure, end stage renal disease, uncontrolled diabetes and a variety of other chronic, mental and surgical conditions.
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What do others think?

1101 reviews by Ausmed Learners
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AS
Antony Schmidt
05 Jan 2021
This article is beneficial to anyone that wishes to expand on existing knowledge of assessing lung, heart and bowel sounds, as well as providing valuable new knowledge to those with limited experience in this practice. Well written and very easy to follow with excellent examples and terminology.
HF
Hazel Filoteo
06 Dec 2022
Good
JH
Jordyn hancock
04 Apr 2020
N/A
Portrait of Ingrid van krevel
Ingrid krevel
30 Apr 2021
This was a good presentation and informative.
JS
Julia Smith
04 Jan 2021
I ve always found describing sounds difficult but this helped a lot.
RW
Renzhi Wang
16 Apr 2022
Registered Nurse
Informative
EG
Ellen Gerritsma
27 May 2021
Short, sweet & thorough information
SD
Sally-ann Douglas
15 Apr 2022
.
MB
Ma Bonsol
24 Nov 2020
Veru helpful
JM
Janet McCulloch
01 Dec 2020
Well presented audible component appropriate
4.6 / 5
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