One composite patient, two systems: an abdomen examined by inspection, auscultation, percussion and palpation, and a painful shoulder measured in degrees, as NU333 often expects in Unit 7. Searches like "nu 333 unit 7 assignment example", "nu333 unit 7 sample" and "nu333 unit 7 example" land here.
Abdominal and Musculoskeletal Assessment: A Bulge at the Navel and a Shoulder That Stops at 110 Degrees
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU333: Health Assessment for the Nursing Professional
Unit 7 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Composite patient written as a model document. Measurements are composite.
Reason for the Visit
The patient came in for right shoulder pain that began three months ago, after a week of restocking high shelves. He has no history of injury. He mentioned the bulge at his navel only when it appeared during the exam; he said he had noticed it for about a year and thought nothing of it. He lifts cases of up to 20 kg at work.
Abdomen
Technique order: inspection, auscultation, percussion, palpation. Listening comes before touching because palpation can change bowel sounds (Bickley et al., 2021).
Inspection: flat contour, no scars or visible pulsations. A 2 cm bulge at the umbilicus appears when he coughs and disappears when he lies back; it is soft and not tender. Described by location, size, what makes it appear, whether it reduces and whether it is tender; naming it is left to the provider.
Auscultation: gurgles heard in each quadrant at roughly ten a minute; the aortic and renal areas are quiet, with no bruit.
Percussion: mostly tympanic, as expected with bowel gas. The liver measures 10 cm top to bottom along the right midclavicular line.
Palpation: the belly is soft, and neither gentle nor firm pressure causes pain; no masses, and neither liver nor spleen is felt below the ribs. No tenderness at either costovertebral angle.
Musculoskeletal
Posture upright; gait steady, even stride, arms swinging symmetrically.
Right shoulder: tender over the lateral aspect below the acromion; no swelling or deformity.
Active flexion: right 150 degrees, left 180 degrees.
Active abduction: right 110 degrees, with pain from 70 to 110 degrees; left 180 degrees, pain-free.
External rotation: right 70 degrees, left 90 degrees.
Abduction strength: right 4 of 5, left 5 of 5, on the 0 to 5 scale.
Pain through the middle of the abduction range, easing at the top, is recorded as the range in which it occurred, a pattern often seen with rotator cuff problems. That pattern and the reduced strength are recorded without naming a diagnosis (Hermans et al., 2013).
Other joints: elbows, wrists, hands, hips, knees and ankles with full, pain-free range and 5 of 5 strength on both sides.
Function: he cannot reach the top shelf at work without pain, which he has managed by using a step stool for the past two months.
Reported
The umbilical bulge and the right shoulder findings were reported to the provider, with a note that the shoulder is affecting his work.
References
Bickley, L. S., Szilagyi, P. G., Hoffman, R. M., & Soriano, R. P. (2021). Bates' guide to physical examination and history taking (13th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Hermans, J., Luime, J. J., Meuffels, D. E., Reijman, M., Simel, D. L., & Bierma-Zeinstra, S. M. A. (2013). Does this patient with shoulder pain have rotator cuff disease? The Rational Clinical Examination systematic review. JAMA, 310(8), 837-847. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.276187
How this NU333 Unit 7 example is structured
Two systems share one document without blending, each in its own section with its own technique order. The abdomen follows inspection, auscultation, percussion, then palpation, and the note states why listening precedes touching: palpation can change bowel sounds. The bulge is described by location, size, what makes it appear, whether it reduces and whether it is tender, and naming it is left to the provider. The musculoskeletal section compares sides at every joint, since asymmetry is the finding. Range of motion is recorded in degrees against the opposite side rather than as limited, and strength uses the 0 to 5 scale with the scale named. Painful movement is written as the range in which pain occurred. Functional impact, reaching the top shelf, links the findings to the reason for the visit, and a short reporting paragraph closes the note.
Get an NU333 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
One assignment or two? Abdominal and musculoskeletal content arrives both ways, and the sample matches whichever the Unit 7 prompt sets. With that prompt, forward the rubric and any documentation form in use; each system is written in its own technique order, sides compared and scales named throughout. First sample free, 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
NU333 Unit 7 questions, answered
Why is auscultation done before palpation in an abdominal assessment?
Because pressing on the abdomen can stimulate or alter bowel activity, which would change what you hear. The usual order for the abdomen is inspection, auscultation, percussion, then palpation, different from most other systems. Documenting in that order also shows the grader you followed it. Listen in all four quadrants before touching.
How is muscle strength graded?
Most courses use a 0 to 5 scale: 0 no contraction, 1 a flicker, 2 movement with gravity eliminated, 3 movement against gravity only, 4 movement against some resistance, and 5 full strength against resistance. Some add plus or minus signs. Record the muscle group, the side and the grade, and name the scale.
Should range of motion be measured with a goniometer?
If your course or setting requires one, yes. Otherwise, estimated degrees compared with the other side are common in nursing documentation, labeled as estimates. What matters most is a number and a comparison rather than a word like limited. Note whether the motion was active or passive and whether it caused pain.