In today’s clinical world, healthcare professionals are tasked with seeing more patients in less time… making it more important than ever that you conduct quick, yet precise head-to-toe assessments.
With this cutting-edge online course, you’ll get step-by-step guidance on how to quickly and thoroughly assess patients, understand the pathophysiology behind their condition, intervene effectively, and proper techniques to documenting your assessments and findings.
In 6 self-paced modules, you will be able to predict a differential diagnosis by identifying cardiac, respiratory and neurological disorders!
Walk away with advanced knowledge to:
- Interpret pathophysiology and differential diagnoses for crackles, wheezes, rhonchi and rubs
- Discuss management of obstructive vs. restrictive lung disease
- Practice a thorough 6-part neurological exam and document findings
- Distinguish whether abnormal S1 and S2 heart sounds are pathological or benign
- Outline an effective method to review options in pharmacologic therapy for any condition
- And so much more!
Improve your confidence, increase efficiency, and eliminate errors today!
Here’s what this intensive online course covers:
Hands-On Physical Assessment
Head-to-Toe Approach
Learn tips, tricks, and tools to conduct a quick and precise head-to-toe assessment.
- Assess the patient using the most comprehensive approach
- Evaluate baseline and identify patient status changes
- Devise tips and tools to perform a more efficient exam without missing key clues
- Conduct proper assessment skills – inspection, palpation, percussions, auscultation
Cardiac Exam
Knowing the different murmurs, their presentation, sounds and location to accurately pinpoint the disease process.
- Examination of mitral, tricuspid, pulmonary, and aortic
- Auscultation sites, sequencing and skills
- Characteristics of a functional murmur
- 7-point classification
- When does a murmur become pathologic?
- Strategies for detection of abnormal cardiac sounds
- First-hand partner demos: Practice and learn with examples
Respiratory Exam
Identifying the different breath sounds and their locations to narrow down diagnosis
- Physical assessment of the respiratory system – key points of normal anatomy to remember
- Identification of normal, abnormal, decreased or absent breath and lung sounds
- Assessment and techniques of Tactile Fremitus, percussion, lung auscultation
- Interpreting what you are hearing and what you should expect to hear:
- Bronchial, Broncho-vesicular, Vesicular Breath Sounds
- Bronchophony, Egophony, Whispered Pectoriloquy
- Death Rattle, Absent Breath Sounds
- Learning the adventitious sounds like Crackles, Rhonchi, Stridor, Wheezes and what to do with them
- What Lung Sounds to expect in different disease states
- First-hand partner demos: Practice with sounds: Listen, assess, and learn
Neurological Exam
Mastering the 6-Part components of a Neuro exam in less time.
- Unraveling the 6-Part components of a thorough Neurological Examination
- ABCT Components of Mental Status
- Key points and clues of using Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) Instrument and what can be diagnosed as a result
- Evaluate an efficient and accurate assessment of normal vs. abnormal findings for: altered mental status, cranial nerves, motor, sensory, cerebellar functions, reflexes
- Danger Signs for abnormal findings and how to identify diseases by physical examination
- First-hand partner demos: Practice with case studies and proper assessment
- Key clues you can’t miss
- Risk factors, readings, subjective and objective data
- Plan of care
Understanding Pathophysiology
Endocrine and Metabolic Problems
- Pituitary disorders
- Hypoglycemia
- Free radicals — Essential in health, deadly in disease
- Diabetic ketoacidosis
- Apoptosis
- Adrenal gland dysfunction
- Addison’s disease
- Jaundice
- Implications of hormones
- Thyroid disorders – Mechanism of onset affects treatment
Cardiovascular and Renal Problems
- Starling’s Law – Normal capillary flow
- Heart failure
- Relationship between cardiac diseases and hypertension
- Unraveling hypertension
- Current concept on cardiogenic shock
- Atherosclerosis – The role of inflammation
- Anaphylaxis
- Acid-base disorders
Respiratory Problems
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations
- Obstructive lung diseases affecting the mechanics of lung ventilation
- Sudden death in asthma
- Acute lung failure/ARDS
- Arterial blood gases – Made simple
Shock
- Common mechanisms of all types of shock
- The cardinal role of mediators in shock
- Newer therapies based on current pathophysiological understanding
- End points of resuscitation
- What type of shock is this?
The Immune System
- Inflammation – Acute phase response
- Systemic inflammatory response
- Infection – Part of a bigger picture
- Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome
- Stress reaction
- Autoimmune diseases