Physical examination of heart disease patients❤️

During this time, there is an opportunity to study more heart specialties.

Therefore would like to invite everyone to "come back and capture the most important basics" along the way

Because in the end...

How modern will the tools be?

But eye-hand-ear-systemic thinking is always at the heart of cardiac care. 🩺✨

Today's Nurse Short Note Read Complete Cardiovascular Disease Patient Physical Examination Guidelines

Read it once and like there is flow in the head.

1) Always start at the "vital sign" first.

We didn't just measure numbers. We were reading hemodynamics at that time.

BP: high = added / low heart load = beware of shock or severe heart failure

Pulse: See rate-stroke-force → irregular miss AF, light miss low output

RR + panting: Fast panting = vital sign of left HF

SpO ❣: Low = Beware pulmonary edema / severe HF / green heart disease

📌 Trick easy to remember:

"These four numbers are doors that say... the patient is stable or going to the emergency."

2) Before placing the headphones... look completely from the end of the hand and forefoot.

Just watch and notice. We got a lot of clues.

Face / Posture: Pale, Sweat Break, Cold Body, Restless → Shock / Acute HF

Cyanosis: lip-green tongue (central) → low arterial blood oxygen

Clubbing: Thinking about certain heart diseases / chronic infections

And then on to "pulse."

Unequal two pulses → vascular disease

Radio-femoral delay → think of coarctation

Water-hammer pulse → AR / PDA

Carotid slow and light dance → severe AS

3) JVP = window of right heart

Who's practicing JVP? Tell me this is a very rewarding skill.

JVP High → Right HF / volume overload

Giant V wave → TR

Cannon A wave → complete heart block

Kussmaul's sign (breathe in, then JVP higher) → constrictive pericarditis

📌 Remember:

JVP is different from carotid because it is not palpable and changes according to breathing / posture.

4) Look at the breasts first... to know "the history of the body."

Median Sternotomy Incision → Ever CABG / Heart Valve Surgery

Convex nodules under the clavicle → pacemaker / ICD

Dent chest / chicken breast → Maybe cause murmur without real valve disease

5) To grope: heave, thrill, PMI

Heave: Tell the heart room to grow / work hard.

Thrill: Very loud murmur (≥ 4 / 6)

PMI slides sideways / downwards: LV enlarged (e.g. dilated cardiomyopathy, chronic regurgi)

6) Listen to the heart systematically (not cool!)

Let's start with S1, S2, and then a special campaign with murmur.

S3: In adults → is often associated with systolic HF.

S4: LV hard / thick → diastolic HF, LVH

Opening snap → MS

Pericardial knock → constrictive pericarditis

About murmur, remember "position + distribution + posture."

MR: apex → armpit

TR: Louder Time, Breathe In (Carvalo)

AR: Hear clearly when sitting, leaning, exhaling.

HOCM / MVP: Louder Valsalva Time

📌 Reminder sentence:

"Light hiss does not mean mild disease" (especially low-output AS).

7) Be sure to check "lung-belly-leg"

Abnormal hearts always appear in other systems.

Listen to the lungs, crepitation → pulmonary congestion.

Large liver palpation / with ascites → right HF

Pitting edema 1 + -4 + → Used to track diuretic responses very well.

8) Overview for genetic diseases

Marfan → MVP, aortic aneurysm

Down → AVSD

Turner → coarctation, bicuspid aortic valve

🩺 End of post summary

A good heart exam is a "systematic body reading."

Let's start with vital signs → forehand, forefoot → JVP → chest → palpation → listen → another system.

If anyone wants Nurse Short Note to be a 7-day 7-day series, heart test skills.

Comment on the word "go on." 💛🫀

# NurseShortNote # Heart physical examination # CardioNursing # Review before studying specialties # ClinicalSkills# Heart line nurse