When nurses perform a physical assessment, one of the four techniques they use is auscultation. By using a stethoscope to listen to sounds from the heart, lungs or other organs, health care providers can identify a variety of illnesses that might otherwise go undetected. That’s why it is so important for nursing students to master skills on stethoscope placement, patient positioning and familiarity with heart, lung, and other body sounds – the keys to performing auscultation properly. Although there is no substitute for training with real patients, tools like Realityworks’ new Auscultation Trainer will improve students’ ability to detect these key indicators.
Introducing Realityworks’ Auscultation Trainer
Realityworks’ Auscultation Trainer includes three components to make practice scenarios more realistic and customizable:
- The torso. It details major organs for easy auscultation site identification. It also includes a removeable skin overlay.
- The RealityScope. This unique component connects to any stethoscope to let students hear heart, lung, and bowel sounds when placed over a corresponding auscultation site.
- The tablet. It includes an app programmed with 21 sounds and over 40 scenarios.
Customization is key
We’re particularly excited about the tablet and app, which enables instructors to create specific practice sessions as needed. In fact, the app includes a library of more than 40 scenarios that include a variety of heart, lung and bowel sounds. Those scenarios are divided into “practice” and “assessment” modes. In practice mode, students only hear sounds associated with the selected condition. In assessment mode, students hear normal sounds everywhere else except in the affected location on the trainer torso.
Realistic sounds for realistic practice
For added realism, each sound is an actual recording sound from a real patient. These sounds help relate to the sounds to actual patients, and thus help students learn better. Sounds play only when students move the RealityScope over a precise auscultation site and apply the correct pressure.
For instance, students can practice assessing:
- Heart conditions, such as cardiac friction rub, bradycardia and tachycardia
- Lung conditions like bradypnea, wheezes and crackles
- Hyperactive and Hypoactive bowel sounds
Tips for engaging students in auscultation practice
- Don’t forget your stethoscope! The sound emitting from the RealityScope is designed to be amplified through a stethoscope, so we recommend using a stethoscope with the trainer for more realism
- Practicing with multiple groups of students? Consider the Auscultation Class Pack, which includes 5 tablets and RealityScopes so you can facilitate small-group practice sessions
- Add realism by encouraging rib palpation practice with and without the included skin overlay
Watch the below video to see our Auscultation Trainer in action:
With the right training, nursing and students can learn how to correctly place stethoscopes and recognize heart, lung and bowel sounds – and become better equipped to succeed in real-world health care situations.
Additional resources
Looking for more information on teaching auscultation? Consider these resources:
- Watch the above video to get a better understanding of how our Auscultation Trainer works
- Visit our Auscultation product page to review product FAQs, download a curriculum overview and request a personalized quote
- See everything we offer for nursing and health care programs by exploring our 2021 Health Science Program Catalog
