So you don’t have to track through all the mnemonics listed in the show, here they are in a quick summary, as well as the link to the  Blakemore Tube Insertion

Pain mnemonic: OPQRST

O – Onset (when did this start, what were you doing at the time?)
P – Provoking and Palliative (what makes this pain better or worse?)
Q – Quality (what does it feel like? Remember, pressure and tightness are pain!)
R – Region and Radiation (point to where it hurts, where does the pain go from there?)
S – Severity (0-10 scale)
T – Time (how long does the pain last, have you had it before, how does it feel compared to times in the past?)

Chest Pain BIG BAD UGLIES mnemonic: PET MAC

P – PE
E – Esophageal Rupture
T – Tension Pneumothorax
M – MI
A – Aortic Dissection
C – Cardiac Tamponade

Chest Pain focused physical assessment: AABBCC

A – Appearance (do they *look* sick? responsive? labored breathing?)
A – Auscultations (remember to palpate the chest while you’re auscultating heart sounds to check for pain you can reproduce)
B – Back
B – Belly (any auscultated or palpated pulses? tender to palpation pain?)
C – Circulation (radial, cap refill, turgor, JVD, edema [unilateral vs. bilateral, pitting vs. non-pitting], dorsalis pedis, cap refill in toes)
C – Color (pale? jaundiced? pink, warm, and dry? lower extremity discoloration?)

One Response to Show Notes for Episode 03 – Chest Pain

  • Michele says:

    Your podcast is excellent. I really appreciate and enjoy the information provided. My only request is to please drop the background music. It makes it difficult to concentrate on the great information being provided. Thanks so much for the podcast!

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