Respiratory Assessment
A comprehensive assessment of respiratory status goes
hand-in-hand with sedation assessment and requires
more than counting a patient’s respiratory rate over
a 30- or 60-second period. Although respiratory rate is
an important parameter to obtain, clinically significant
respiratory depression is not defined by a specific number
of respirations per minute.1 Rather, it is defined by several
characteristics of a patient’s respiratory status and is
compared with the patient’s baseline respiratory status.
A proper respiratory assessment during opioid treatment
requires the nurse to watch the rise and fall of the
patient’s chest to determine the rate, depth, and regularity
of respirations.9 Current respiratory rate should be
compared with previous rates, and trends should be
noted. Shallow respirations or periods of apnea, even
brief periods, require further evaluation.