1.By palpation-using the middle 3 fingers for palpating all pulses except the apical pulse
2.By using stethoscope-for assessing apical pulse and fetal heart tone (FHT)
3.By Doppler UTZ stethoscope (DUS)-for pulses that are difficult to assess. DUS headset has earpieces similar to standard stethoscope but it has a long cord attached to a volume-controlled audio unit and an UTZ transducer (battery operated)
4.By using cardiac monitoring machine-indicating the rate on the screen or readout graph (chestleads are attached on different sites of the body)
When assessing the pulse, the nurse collects the following data: rate, rhythm, volume, arterial wall elasticityand presence or absence of bilateral equality.
Tachycardia –referred to an excessively fast heart rate (ex. Over 100 beats per minute in adult)
Bradycardia –referred to an excessively slow heart rate (ex. Less than 60 beats per minute in adult)