Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

Identify the function of breathing.

Identify the two muscle systems that are primarily responsible for breathing and how they work.

Identify factors that are noted while taking a patient’s breathing rate.

Identify the procedures for determining a patient’s breathing rate.

Take a person’s breathing rate.

Identify terms associated with normal and abnormal breathing (such as rapid, shallow, irregular rhythm, and productive cough) and the meanings of the terms.

Identify why a patient should be unaware that you are counting his breathing.

Overview