Exam by body system

How to examine the elbow

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.

MD / DOPA
Practice it in VR with Blocky

Elbow pain is often a tendon problem. Pain location gives the answer.

Step by step

  1. Look

    Swelling behind the elbow (bursitis), carrying angle, scars. [1]

  2. Feel

    Lateral and medial epicondyles, olecranon, radial head. [1]

  3. Move

    Bend, straighten, turn the palm up and down. [1]

  4. Tennis elbow

    Pain on the outside with resisted wrist extension. [1]

  5. Golfer's elbow

    Pain on the inside with resisted wrist flexion. [1]

  6. Nerves and pulses

    Ulnar nerve at the elbow, radial pulse. [2]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

VMS cases that train this skill

Sources

  1. Stanford Medicine 25 (bedside exam)
  2. NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint
  3. Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)

Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint; Stanford Medicine 25 (bedside exam). VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.