How to examine gait
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Watching a patient walk takes a minute and shows problems in strength, balance, coordination and pain.
Step by step
Safety
Clear space, stay close. [1]
Normal walk
Speed, step length, arm swing, posture, turning. [1]
Heel and toe walking
Tests ankle strength. [1]
Tandem walk
Heel to toe in a line: tests balance. [1]
Name the pattern
Shuffling (Parkinson's), wide-based (cerebellum), high-stepping (foot drop), limping (pain), circumduction (stroke). [1]
Record
Describe and link to the rest of the exam. [1]
Common errors
- Not staying close.
- Skipping tandem walk.
- Not watching the turn.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses 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.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Cervical spondylotic myelopathy
- Alcoholic cerebellar degeneration
- Fall risk at home, older adult
- Parkinson disease, home safety
- High-altitude illness
- Nystagmus
34 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
- Stanford Medicine 25 (bedside exam)
- NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint
- 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). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.