Documenting Bowel Sounds

In this problem, a nurse is auscultating bowel sounds and hears them once every five to fifteen seconds. We need to determine how the nurse should document this finding from the given options.

First, let's establish what is considered a normal frequency for bowel sounds. In a healthy adult, we typically expect to hear between five and thirty sounds per minute.

Now, let's translate our clinical finding into a per-minute rate to compare it to the standard range.

If sounds occur every five seconds, that is twelve times per minute. If they occur every fifteen seconds, that is four times per minute. So, our range is approximately four to twelve sounds per minute.

Since this frequency mostly falls within or very close to the standard normal range of five to thirty sounds per minute, these are considered normal, or normoactive, bowel sounds.