Nurses use stethoscopes as part of their normal work. They use stethoscopes to assess certain body sounds that can give them an understanding of the functioning of the body organs concerned. Nurses are not supposed to diagnose but they are supposed to check patients multiple times a day and note down there is something out of the usual.
However, in a hospital environment, whether a nurse is required to use a stethoscope or not depends on the setting and what her responsibilities are.
Do nurses use stethoscopes? If they are working indirect patient care, they would be required to assess the patients’ vital signs such as the blood pressure and for that, she would need a stethoscope.
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Now that you know the basics whether do nurses use stethoscopes or not it’s time to investigate further.
You might be thinking how often do nurses use stethoscopes and what do nurses use stethoscopes for? Next, I’m going to give you the answers to these questions.
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What do nurses use stethoscopes for?
A nurse may use the stethoscope to measure blood pressure, listen to lungs, heartbeats, and bowel sounds. Nurses require their stethoscope for timely assessment of vital body sounds.
They are supposed to check bowel sounds after surgery and when the sound returns. During the daily assessment, they need to listen to the lungs of each patient.
Why do nurses use stethoscopes?
Depending on which department they are working on a particular day, they may be required to listen to heartbeats as well.
Though blood pressure can be measured electronically, most physicians rely on the measurements given by basic assessment equipment such as the stethoscope and aneroid sphygmomanometer.
But how often do nurses use stethoscopes? That’s coming up next.
How often do nurses use stethoscopes?
Nurses are one of the most active medical professionals in a hospital setting and they have to cover a lot of patients in a day’s work.
The number of times that a nurse might require to use the stethoscope would depend on which department she is working in on a particular day. However, she may be required to make a daily assessment of each of the patients in her ward.
She may have to do further assessments of those who have just returned from surgery or those who are critically ill. Nurses need to use their stethoscope quite often.
Do nurses use stethoscopes FAQ
Yes, nurses use stethoscopes to assess some of the most vital parameters of the living body. They have to listen to the sounds of lungs, abdominal, heartbeats and also need to check the blood pressure.
Though they are not supposed to diagnose, by assessing how normally some of the key body organs are working she keeps a close watch on whether or not the body is keeping well and functioning all right.
They need the stethoscope to make a timely assessment because if she uses somebody else’s stethoscope she may have to wait until it becomes easily available.
Here are a few most frequently asked questions related to the topic: Do nurses use stethoscopes.
Do nurses use stethoscopes in the UK?
Nurses all over the world including the UK are supposed to use a stethoscope. This is not a question of whether nurses in one country use it or not.
The very nature of a nurse’s work demands that she should be in a position to alert the doctor when she notices unusual developments in any part of the body, but more so when the unusual development is noticed in key body organs like heart and lungs.
The bowel sounds indicate the condition inside the digestive tract. After an abdomen surgery, these sounds have special meaning to the doctors. In the UK, hospital settings demand doctors do all important and critical patient care jobs personally.
So, most of these readings that nurses take in other countries are taken by doctors in the UK.
However, this does not mean that nurses are completely immune to using a stethoscope.
Do nurses use their own stethoscope?
Yes, most nurses use their own stethoscopes. It is because they need it so often that they cannot afford not to have it.
Each of the nurses from whom a nurse can expect to borrow it for her work would themselves be saddled with so much of assessment work that they would not like to give their equipment to someone else.
Nurses use very basic kinds of stethoscopes which would not be very expensive. But, yes, they need to be durable because a nurse would use it most of the time she is active.
Looking at the high frequency of use, it makes sense for the nurses to buy their individual stethoscope. What do nurses use stethoscopes for? They are used to read some vital body sounds.
Do mental health nurses use stethoscopes?
Nurses who work among patients with mental disorders are more concerned about the psychiatric issues of the patients than their vital body signs.
Do nurses use stethoscopes in a mental hospital? They are not required to use a stethoscope as long as they are giving their services to patients with mental health issues.
However, this does not mean a nurse working with this kind of person and patients would not carry a stethoscope. She may or may not. It may be entirely her call.
But stethoscopes are such basic medical equipment that no medical practitioner whether a nurse or a doctor would like to give it a miss.
So, while a nurse working with patients with mental disorders may not require a stethoscope in the course of normal work, she may carry her equipment to the hospital just to be ready for any eventuality.
Do nursing assistants use stethoscopes?
Nursing assistants may or may not use stethoscopes. It all depends on the setting of the medical center.
Since they are assistants to the nurses, they may be asked by the nurses to take some of the readings or make the assessments.
However, their primary job is to provide the patients with necessary intimate and hands-on assistance.
They are required to look after the needs of the patients.
Some of their works would include: Repositioning or turning bedridden patients, taking temperature, blood pressure, and other vital readings, feeding the patients, documenting and reporting to the nurses the health issues of the patients, cleaning bed linens and the room, dressing wounds, offering assistance in medical procedures.
Conclusion: Do nurses use stethoscopes?
Yes, nurses use stethoscopes for assessing some vital body sounds like those of the heart, lungs, and abdomen.
These sounds give the nurses some basic information about the health of the body organs involved and also of the patients.
This allows the nurses to have a more thorough understanding of the health of a patient under their care. They can brief the doctor about the condition when he makes the round or even before if there is something seriously wrong about the patients.
A stethoscope is an equipment that allows the nurses to know about the patients’ day to day health much before a doctor can know.
Now you know whether or not do nurses use stethoscopes and what do nurses use stethoscopes for.
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