Respiratory Failure and Non-Invasive Ventilation — DCE Clinical Case

Approach before you touch the patient

Announce the frame: you are examining a breathless patient for signs of respiratory failure and its complications, not just for a chest diagnosis. Position him at 45 degrees, expose the chest fully, and take ten seconds at the end of the bed — the highest-yield ten seconds of the station, because work of breathing is assessed by watching, not palpating ^[1].