App Helps NP’s Identify Heart Murmurs

If you are like me, the whole S1, S2, listen at the lower left sternal boarder heart murmur lecture from my nurse practitioner program was a little difficult to implement into practice.  Yes, I can tell when a heart beat is not quite right but I can’t usually pinpoint the exact problem.  Cardiology referral anyone?

Thanks to a new app, I can practice my murmur-identifying skills at home and also have a quick, easy and audible murmur reference on my phone.  The app Heart Murmur Pro promises to help providers recognize and evaluate heart murmurs.  With this app, you can listen to various murmurs (use headphones for best results) from different points on the chest.  The app also gives information about the abnormality and treatment if necessary.

When I first heard of this app I was hoping it could somehow identify a murmur on my actual patients in person, but this was wishful thinking.  Still, Heart Murmur Pro will prove useful in educating myself further about murmurs seeing as I didn’t retain this information well after learning it in school.

At $2.99 this app is cheap (but not free) and may be a good resource for you as a nurse practitioner if you, like me, have a deficit in your heart murmur knowledge.