Checking+on+your+patient

You examine the girl’s physical appearance as being tall and slender as you read her vitals on the patient monitor. You notice that the patient is exhibiting shortness of breath but blood pressure appears to be normal so you use your stethoscope to listen to her heart yourself. You hear a clicking noise after the ventricle begins to contract followed by a murmur (whooshing sound), and you become suspicious of the blood flow. These symptoms could suggest regurgitation and cause the blood to flow back into the atrium which could potentially lead to heart failure depending on the severity. You decided to do an echocardiogram (ECG) to visually see what is going on and what is causing it.

Do you want to perform the ultrasound or review the patient’s medical record first?