Adventitious Breath Sounds (Nursing)

00:01 So, here's a question. Which of these breath sounds are considered adventitious? So, which of these breath sounds are considered adventitious? Just circle the ones that you know to be adventitious.

00:20 Okay. It was kind of a trick question because it's all of them.

00:24 Crackles, wheezes, rhonchi, stridor and a pleural friction rub are definitely all considered outside of normal or adventitious sounds.

00:34 Now, it depends on the extent and what part.

00:37 Like if I have a patient that has crackles, it depends on how severe they are or how widespread it is, if it's a big problem or just a little problem.

00:46 Same thing with wheezes. Have a patient who's wheezing.

00:50 I know they're asthmatic. I know that we're intervening.

00:53 We're giving them medications and this is before we've given them medications, I'm not as concerned.

00:58 But if we've given them the meds, we've given them the breathing treatments, we've got them on oxygen and we still can't get that sat up and they have wheezes that's an indication of a bigger problem.

01:09 So this is just one piece of the puzzle. It's an important one, but its one piece of the puzzle.

01:15 I'm putting together all of the data to determine where my patient is, and so I can communicate clearly to the healthcare provider where the patient has been, what we've done and what their response was to the treatment.

01:28 Because part of my role as a nurse is to assess the effectiveness of treatment.

01:33 So after that trick question, now you know that adventitious means abnormal.

01:38 So crackles, wheezes, rhonchi, stridor, pleural friction rubs, these are all abnormal breath sounds.

01:45 Now, your role in identifying adventitious breath sounds helps the whole team identify underlying problems.

01:54 So that we have these might be a small problem, might be a big problem, might be an indication that a bigger problem is coming.

02:01 But the important thing is, you need to become an expert in recognizing what these breath sounds sound like and describing exactly where and when you hear them on your patient.