1) Key Terms Flashcards
What is afebrile?
- Without fever
- Normal body temperature
What are antipyretics?
- Medications that reduce fever
What is an auscultatory gap?
- Momentary silence between systolic and diastolic sounds when taking blood pressure
What is basal metabolic rate (BMR)?
- Minimum energy required for basic body functions at rest
What is blood pressure?
- Force exerted by circulating blood on walls of blood vessels
What is bradycardia?
- Slow heart rate, below normal range
What is cardiac output?
- Amount of blood pumped by the heart per minute
What is Celsius?
- Temperature scale where water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C
What is conduction?
- Transfer of heat between objects by direct contact
What is convection?
- Transfer of heat by movement of a liquid or gas
What is core temperature?
- Temperature of the body’s internal organs
What is diaphoresis?
- Profuse sweating
What is diastolic blood pressure?
- Blood pressure between heartbeats when heart is relaxing
What is diffusion?
- Spread of particles from high to low concentration
What is a dysrhythmia?
- Abnormal heart rhythm
What is eupnea?
- Normal relaxed breathing
What is evaporation?
- Vaporization of a liquid to a gas
What does febrile mean?
- Having a fever
What is a fever?
- Elevated body temperature above normal range
What is a fever of unknown origin?
- Fever with no identified cause after investigation
What is frostbite?
- Freezing of body tissues from exposure to extreme cold
What is heat exhaustion?
- Condition caused by exposure to high temperatures and dehydration
What is heatstroke?
- Life-threatening failure of thermoregulation from extreme heat
What is hematocrit?
- Percentage of red blood cells in total blood volume
What is hypertension?
- Abnormally high blood pressure
What is hyperthermia?
- Elevated body temperature above normal range
What is hypotension?
- Abnormally low blood pressure
What is the hypothalamus?
- Part of brain that regulates body temperature
What is hypothermia?
- Abnormally low body temperature
What is hypoxemia?
- Low oxygen levels in the blood
What is malignant hyperthermia?
- Rare but potentially fatal adverse reaction to general anesthesia
- Characterized by rapid rise in body temperature, muscle rigidity, etc.
- Treated with dantrolene and supportive care
What is masked hypertension?
- High blood pressure only present outside of clinical setting
- Normal readings in doctor’s office but elevated at home
What is nonshivering thermogenesis?
- Production of body heat without shivering
- Occurs through metabolism of brown fat
What is orthostatic hypotension?
- Sudden drop in blood pressure upon standing up
- Due to blood pooling in lower extremities
What is perfusion?
- Passage of blood through capillary beds to supply tissues
What is postural hypotension?
- Drop in blood pressure from change in body position
What is a pulse?
- Palpable rhythmic expansion of an artery from blood flow
What is a pulse deficit?
- When radial pulse rate is less than heart rate
- Indicates arrhythmia or blocked blood flow
What is a pulse oximeter?
- Device that measures oxygen saturation in blood
What is pulse pressure?
- Difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressures
What is pyrexia?
- Abnormally high body temperature/fever
What are pyrogens?
- Substances that cause fever by affecting hypothalamus
What is the radial pulse?
- Pulse felt at the radial artery in the wrist
What is radiation?
- Transfer of heat from a warm object to cooler surroundings
What is shivering?
- Involuntary muscle contractions to generate body heat
What is a sphygmomanometer?
- Device used to measure blood pressure
What is stroke volume?
- Amount of blood pumped from ventricle per beat
What is systolic blood pressure?
- Blood pressure during ventricular contraction
What is tachycardia?
- Abnormally rapid resting heart rate
What is thermoregulation?
- Process of maintaining normal body temperature
What is tidal volume?
- Amount of air inhaled/exhaled with each breath
What is ventilation?
- Process of inhaling and exhaling air
What are vital signs (VS)?
- Body measurements used to assess health status
- Include temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure
What is white coat hypertension?
- Elevated blood pressure only in clinical setting
- Normal at other times
What are the most frequent measurements obtained by healthcare providers?
- Temperature
- Pulse
- Blood pressure
- Respiratory rate
- Oxygen saturation
Why are these measurements referred to as vital signs?
- Temperature
- Pulse
- Blood pressure
- Respiratory rate
- Oxygen saturation
- They indicate the effectiveness of circulatory, respiratory, neural, and endocrine functions
- Their importance in assessing health status
What factors can cause vital signs to change?
- Environmental temperature
- Physical state
- Activities
- Illness
What is the “fifth vital sign”?
- Pain
- Its assessment influences other vital signs
- Necessary to include in baseline data
What do vital signs provide?
- Important data to determine usual state of health (baseline)
- Indication of physiological changes requiring intervention
How are vital signs measured?
- Inspection
- Palpation
- Auscultation
Why is careful measurement technique important?
- Ensures accurate and consistent vital sign findings
How are vital signs interconnected?
- Increase in temperature often increases respiratory rate and pulse
- Blood pressure and pulse often rise/fall together
What is an exception to blood pressure and pulse rising/falling together?
- In hypovolemic shock or severe infection, blood pressure falls as pulse increases
What is the basis for clinical problem solving?
- Vital signs and other physiological measurements
