University:
West Coast University
Course:
NURS 103 | Fundamentals of Nursing
Academic year:

2021
Views:

61

Pages:

3
Author:

unrememberedx6wyi

The Heart: Five Areas for Listening Basics of Auscultation Auscultation of a heart begins with two critical items: a stethoscope and a patient. Knowledge about both these elements is key to assessing the health of a heart. Classic stethoscopes have two sides of the chest piece—the diaphragm and the bell . The larger, flatter side is the diaphragm and is used for listening to higher-pitched sounds . The bell is the smaller, concave side that allows for auscultation of lower-pitched sounds like some heart murmurs. When performing a cardiac exam, auscultation should be performed with the diaphragm and then repeated with the bell. Heart Valves The locations of auscultation center around the heart valves. The aortic, pulmonic, tricuspid, and mitral valves are four of the five points of auscultation. The fifth is Erb’s point, located left of the sternal border in the third intercostal space. The aortic point is located right of the sternal border in the second intercostal space. The pulmonic point is to the left of the sternal border in the second intercostal space. The sound that emits from the aortic and pulmonic points is the S2