# A nurse auscultates a client's posterior lung bases. Listen to the recording. Which documentation is most accurate?

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> url: https://mymerci.kr/pages/nclex_q.php?qn_id=604455&lang=en  
> language: en  
> subject: Medical Emergencies  
> category: PA

## Question

A nurse auscultates a client's posterior lung bases. Listen to the recording. Which documentation is most accurate?

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🎧Respiratory auscultation recording

Use headphones if available. You may replay the recording.

1

Discontinuous inspiratory crackles

✕

2

Continuous expiratory wheezes

✕

3

A harsh inspiratory sound consistent with stridor

✕

4

A pleural friction rub

✕

## Explanation

The recording contains discontinuous crackling sounds heard with inspiration. The nurse should document the acoustic finding rather than infer a diagnosis from the sound alone.

## In-depth explanation

Quick answer
Document discontinuous inspiratory crackles.
Clinical reasoning
The sound is intermittent rather than continuous and is heard during inspiration. A sound alone does not establish pneumonia, pulmonary edema, or another diagnosis, so the answer stays at the assessment-finding level.
Audio attribution
James Heilman, MD · CC-BY-SA-3.0
**Sources**
- NCBI Bookshelf — Nursing Skills: Respiratory Assessment

- Audio source and license record

## Key concepts

- **Crackles** — Brief, discontinuous adventitious breath sounds heard most commonly during inspiration.
- **Adventitious breath sound** — An additional or abnormal sound heard during lung auscultation.

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