- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Nurse-Performed Lung Ultrasound Shows High Specificity for Pulmonary Congestion: Study

Researchers identified that a single, skilled nurse could safely rule out pulmonary congestion in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) with lung ultrasound (LUS), providing new promise for the inclusion of point-of-care imaging in nursing practice. In a prospective exploratory diagnostic accuracy study, LUS performed by a nurse had high specificity (94%) but moderate sensitivity (50%) for detecting pulmonary congestion in critically ill adults. The study was published in the International Journal of Nursing Knowledge by Bruna G. and colleagues.
The research was carried out from October 2022 to September 2023 in a Brazilian general hospital ICU. A convenience sample of 64 adult AKI patients admitted to the ICU were included. Bedside LUS was conducted by a critical care nurse according to the "Bedside Lung Ultrasound in Emergency" protocol. Pulmonary congestion was considered to be present when ≥3 B-lines in ≥2 intercostal spaces on both sides of the chest. These ultrasound results were subsequently compared to an independent reference standard of vascular congestion on chest X-ray or CT scan, interpreted by blinded intensivists.
The objective was to establish how precisely nurse-administered LUS can diagnose pulmonary congestion and whether these ultrasound results reflect nursing diagnostic models, specifically NANDA-I classification of "Excess Fluid Volume."
Key Findings
14 out of 64 patients (21.9%) were detected to have pulmonary congestion by the radiological standard.
LUS was 50% sensitive (95% CI: 23%–77%), i.e., correctly detected half of the true congestion.
Specificity was 94% (95% CI: 89%–99%), i.e., LUS correctly excluded congestion in nearly all patients without it.
Positive predictive value (probability that patients with positive LUS actually had congestion) was 70%, and the negative predictive value (probability that patients with negative LUS were actually congestion-free) was 87%.
Nurse-performed LUS showed high agreement with radiology, with a Gwet's AC1 coefficient of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.63–0.92).
There were no reported adverse events from conducting LUS.
The significant sonographic marker, ≥3 B-lines, correlated with NANDA-I defining characteristic of "pulmonary congestion" for the diagnosis code 00026 of Excess Fluid Volume.
In this pilot study, one experienced nurse could perform LUS with very good specificity to exclude pulmonary congestion in AKI patients admitted to intensive care units. The present results bring a new avenue for equipping nurses with point-of-care imaging, pointing out further research with greater numbers for full utilization of its diagnostic capabilities.
Reference:
Barbeiro, B. G., do Prado, P. R., Santos, V. B., Menegueti, M. G., Boling, B., & Gimenes, F. R. E. (2025). Diagnostic accuracy of nurse‑performed lung ultrasound for pulmonary congestion in acute kidney injury: An exploratory study. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 2047-3095.70018. https://doi.org/10.1111/2047-3095.70018
Dr Riya Dave has completed dentistry from Gujarat University in 2022. She is a dentist and accomplished medical and scientific writer known for her commitment to bridging the gap between clinical expertise and accessible healthcare information. She has been actively involved in writing blogs related to health and wellness.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751