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Nursing 20G - Vital Signs > 5) Factors Affecting Body Temperature > Flashcards

5) Factors Affecting Body Temperature Flashcards

1
Q

How are newborns affected by temperature changes?

A
  • Temperature control mechanisms are immature
  • Temperature may respond dramatically to environment changes
  • Extra care needed to protect from extremes
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2
Q

What precautions are needed for newborn temperature regulation?

A
  • Adequate body coverings
  • Avoid exposure to temperature extremes
  • Wear cap to prevent heat loss through head (up to 30%)
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3
Q

What is the normal temperature range for newborns?

A
  • Core and peripheral temperature 36.5°C - 37.6°C
  • When protected from environmental extremes
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4
Q

Until what age is temperature regulation unstable?

A
  • Until children reach puberty
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5
Q

How does temperature range change with age?

A
  • Gradually drops as individuals approach older adulthood
  • Older adults have lower and narrower range
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6
Q

What oral temperature may be normal for older adults in cold weather?

A
  • 35°C is not unusual
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7
Q

What is the average body temperature for older adults?

A
  • Approximately 36°C
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8
Q

Why are older adults sensitive to temperature extremes?

A
  • Deterioration in control mechanisms
  • Poor vasomotor control
  • Reduced subcutaneous tissue
  • Reduced sweat gland activity
  • Reduced metabolism
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9
Q

How does muscle activity affect heat production?

A
  • Requires increased blood supply
  • Increased breakdown of carbohydrates and fats
  • This increased metabolism causes more heat production
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10
Q

What effect does exercise have on body temperature?

A
  • Any form of exercise increases heat production
  • And thus raises body temperature
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11
Q

How high can body temperature rise during prolonged strenuous exercise?

A
  • Up to 41°C temporarily
  • Example: Long-distance running
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12
Q

How do hormones affect women’s body temperature?

A
  • Women experience greater fluctuations than men
  • Due to hormonal variations in progesterone during menstrual cycle
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13
Q

How does low progesterone affect body temperature?

A
  • Body temperature is a few tenths below baseline level
  • Lower temperature persists until ovulation
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14
Q

How does ovulation affect body temperature?

A
  • Greater progesterone enters bloodstream
  • Raises body temperature to baseline or higher
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15
Q

How can temperature changes be used for women?

A
  • To predict most fertile time to achieve pregnancy
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16
Q

What temperature changes occur during menopause?

A
  • Intense body heat and sweating episodes
  • Lasting 30 seconds to 5 minutes
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17
Q

What is a hot flash?

A
  • Skin temperature increases intermittently by up to 4°C
  • Caused by instability of vasomotor controls
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18
Q

How much does body temperature normally change in a 24-hour period?

A
  • Changes 0.5°C to 1°C
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19
Q

When is body temperature usually lowest for day-awake, night-sleep cycle?

A
  • Between 0100 and 0400 hours
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20
Q

When does body temperature reach its maximum?

A
  • Around 1800 hours
  • Then declines back to early morning levels
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21
Q

How long does it take for temperature patterns to reverse for night shift workers?

A
  • 1 to 3 weeks
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22
Q

Does the circadian temperature rhythm change with age?

A
  • In general, no
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23
Q

How does stress affect body temperature?

A
  • Physical and emotional stress increases body temperature
  • Through hormonal and neural stimulation
  • These physiological changes increase metabolism
  • Which increases heat production
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24
Q

What situation may cause a higher than normal temperature reading?

A
  • Patient feeling anxious about entering a hospital
  • Patient feeling anxious about undergoing a procedure
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25
Q

How can a warm room affect body temperature measurement?

A
  • Patient may be unable to regulate by heat-loss mechanisms
  • Resulting in elevated body temperature
26
Q

How can being outside in the cold affect body temperature?

A
  • Body temperature may be low
  • Due to extensive radiant and conductive heat loss
  • If patient was outside without warm clothing
27
Q

Who is most affected by environmental temperatures?

A
  • Infants
  • Older persons
  • Those with spinal cord injuries
  • Due to less efficient temperature-regulating mechanisms
28
Q

What is poikilothermia?

A
  • Body temperature adjusts to environmental temperature
  • Seen in people with spinal cord injuries
29
Q

What affects the hypothalamic set point for body temperature?

A
  • Body temperatures outside the usual range
30
Q

What can cause changes in body temperature

A
  • Excess heat production
  • Excessive heat loss
  • Minimal heat production
  • Minimal heat loss
  • Or a combination
31
Q

What determines the clinical problems from temperature changes?

A
  • The nature of the temperature change
32
Q

What is pyrexia or fever?

A
  • Body temperature rises to an abnormal level
  • Because heat-loss mechanisms cannot keep up with excess heat production
33
Q

When is a fever usually not harmful?

A
  • If it stays below 39°C (102.2°F)
  • A single temperature reading may not indicate fever
34
Q

How is a true fever determined?

A
  • Based on several temperature readings at different times
  • Compared to the person’s usual values at those times
35
Q

What causes a true fever?

A
  • Alteration in the hypothalamic set point
  • Triggered by pyrogens like bacteria and viruses
36
Q

How does the body respond during a fever?

A
  • Hypothalamus raises the set point
  • Body produces and conserves heat to reach new set point
37
Q

What happens during the chill phase of a fever?

A
  • Person experiences chills and shivers
  • Feels cold even though temperature is rising
38
Q

What happens in the plateau phase?

A
  • Chills subside
  • Person feels warm and dry
39
Q

What causes the fever to break?

A
  • Hypothalamic set point drops
  • Initiating heat loss responses like vasodilation and sweating
40
Q

How does fever enhance the body’s immune system?

A
  • Temperature elevations up to 38°C enhance immune function
  • White blood cell production is stimulated
  • Increased temperature reduces iron in blood plasma, suppressing bacterial growth
  • Fever stimulates production of interferon to fight viral infections
41
Q

How can fever patterns help in diagnosis?

A
  • Fever patterns differ depending on the causative pyrogen
  • Increase/decrease in pyrogen activity results in fever spikes/declines at different times
  • Duration and degree of fever depend on pyrogen strength and individual’s response
  • Fever of unknown origin refers to fever with undetermined cause
42
Q

What physiological changes occur during fever?

A
  • Cellular metabolism and oxygen consumption increase
  • Heart and respiratory rates rise to meet increased metabolic needs
  • Increased metabolism uses energy, producing additional heat
  • Prolonged fever can weaken the person by exhausting energy stores
43
Q

What are the risks of fever for certain patient populations?

A
  • For patients with cardiac/respiratory problems, fever stress can be great
  • Increased metabolism requires additional oxygen; inability to meet demand causes cellular hypoxia
  • Myocardial hypoxia can produce angina (chest pain)
  • Cerebral hypoxia can produce confusion
44
Q

What nursing interventions may be required during fever?

A
  • Oxygen therapy may be needed
  • Increased respiration and diaphoresis can lead to excessive water loss and fluid volume deficit
  • Dehydration is a serious concern for older adults and low-weight children
  • Maintaining optimal fluid volume status is an important intervention
45
Q

What is hyperthermia?

A
  • Elevated body temperature
  • Due to inability to promote heat loss or reduce heat production
  • Different from fever, which is an upward shift in set point
  • Hyperthermia results from overload of thermoregulatory mechanisms
46
Q

What can impair heat-loss mechanisms and cause hyperthermia?

A
  • Any disease or trauma to the hypothalamus
47
Q

What is malignant hyperthermia?

A
  • Life-threatening disorder of skeletal muscle
  • In people with pharmacogenetic predisposition
  • Characterized by muscle contractions and severe hypermetabolic crisis
  • Triggered by volatile anesthetics or succinylcholine
48
Q

How is hypothermia classified based on temperature?

A
  • Mild: 34-36°C
  • Moderate: 30-34°C
  • Severe: <30°C
49
Q

What causes heatstroke?

A
  • Prolonged exposure to sun or high environmental temperatures
  • Overwhelms body’s heat-loss mechanisms
  • Heat also depresses hypothalamic function
50
Q

Who is at risk for heatstroke?

A
  • Very young and older persons
  • Those with cardiovascular disease, hypothyroidism, diabetes, spinal cord injury, alcoholism
  • Patients on medications that decrease heat loss ability (phenothiazines, anticholinergics, diuretics, amphetamines, beta-blockers)
  • People who exercise or do strenuous physical labor (athletes, construction workers, farmers)
51
Q

What are the signs and symptoms of heatstroke?

A
  • Confusion, delirium, excess thirst, nausea, muscle cramps
  • Visual disturbances, giddiness, incontinence
  • Hot, dry skin (most important sign)
  • No sweating due to electrolyte loss and hypothalamic malfunction
52
Q

What vital sign changes occur in heatstroke?

A
  • Body temperature as high as 45°C
  • Increased heart rate
  • Lowered blood pressure
53
Q

What can happen if heatstroke progresses without treatment?

A
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Permanent neurological damage
54
Q

What causes heat exhaustion?

A
  • Profuse sweating (diaphoresis)
  • Excessive water and electrolyte loss
55
Q

What symptoms does a patient with heat exhaustion exhibit?

A
  • Signs and symptoms of fluid volume deficit
56
Q

How is heat exhaustion treated?

A
  • Transport patient to a cooler environment
  • Restore fluid and electrolyte balance
57
Q

What is hypothermia?

A
  • Abnormally low body temperature
  • Caused by prolonged exposure to cold overwhelming heat production
  • Classified by core temperature measurements
58
Q

How can hypothermia occur?

A
  • Unintentionally induced (e.g. falling through ice)
  • Intentionally induced during certain surgeries to reduce metabolic demand
59
Q

What symptoms occur as body temperature drops to 35°C in hypothermia?

A
  • Uncontrolled shivering
  • Loss of memory
  • Depression
  • Poor judgment
60
Q

What happens as body temperature falls below 34.4°C in hypothermia?

A
  • Heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure decrease
  • Skin becomes cyanotic
  • Can progress to cardiac dysrhythmias, loss of consciousness, unresponsiveness
61
Q

What is frostbite?

A
  • Occurs with exposure to extremely cold temperatures
  • Ice crystals form inside cells, causing circulatory and tissue damage
  • Susceptible areas: earlobes, nose, fingers, toes
  • Affected area becomes white, waxy, firm, numb
62
Q

How is frostbite treated?

A
  • Gradual warming measures
  • Analgesia
  • Protection of injured tissue

Nursing 20G - Vital Signs (19 decks)

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