The nurse is performing an assessment of a patient's right kidney. The nurse bluntly strikes the area of the costovertebral angle while observing the patient's reaction. The physical assessment technique being used is:
a. inspection.
b. percussion.
c. palpation.
d. auscultation.
ANS: B
Percussion involves tapping the patient's skin with short, sharp strokes that cause a vibration to travel through the skin and to the upper layers of the underlying structures. Inspection involves the use of vision, hearing, and smell to closely scrutinize physical characteristics of a whole person and individual body systems. Palpation uses touch to assess body organs and skin texture, temperature, moisture, turgor, tenderness, and thickness. Auscultation is a technique of listening with the assistance of a stethoscope to sounds made by organs or systems such as the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and abdominal cavity. Vibration is reflected by the tissues, and the character of the sound heard depends on the density of the structures that reflect the sound.
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