Basic Vital Signs Flashcards
Fatigue (define)
A sense of extreme tiredness from mental or physical exertion or illness; subjective (symptom)
Weakness (define)
A state of losing muscle power from medical or psychosocial cause; objective (sign)
Alert/conscious (description)
Patient responds fully and appropriately to stimuli
Confused (description)
Disoriented/impaired thinking and responses but still responds to stimuli
Delirious (description)
Disoriented, restless, hallucinations, delusions; marked deficit in attention
Somnolent/lethargic (description)
Sleepy; excessive drowsiness; responds to stimuli with incoherent mumbles or disorganized movements
Obtunded (description)
Decreased alertness; slowed psychomotor responses; quickly falls asleep
Stupor (description)
Sleep-like state; responds by grimacing or drawing away from painful stimuli; the patient will immediately lapse back to the unresponsive state
Comatose (description)
Cannot be aroused; eyes closed; no response to stimuli
Halitosis (Define)
Bad breath
BP (Width size)
Cuff bladder width should be 40% of upper arm circumference
BP (Length size)
Cuff bladder length should be 80% of upper arm circumference
BP (Cuff positioning)
Artery mark positioned directly over the brachial artery with the bottom edge approximately one inch (2-3 cm) above the AC fold
Korotkoff Sounds
K-sounds; beats heard as cuff is deflated; 5 phases
K1 (first phase)
Systolic pressure, first clear “tapping” sound; a sharp “thud”
K5 (fifth phase)
Diastolic pressure; sounds disappear completely, last sound is the diastolic pressure
K2 (second phase)
Softer, longer sounds characterized by a blowing or swishing sound
K3 (third phase)
Sounds become crisper and louder, similar to sounds heard in K1
K4 (fourth phase)
Softer, muffled sounds due to less turbulent flow; soft blowing sound that disappears; diastolic often mistakenly recorded
Rate of BP cuff release
No greater than 5 mmHg per second; recommended 2-3 mmHg per second
Pulse pressure (define)
The difference between the systolic and diastolic pressure
Widened pulse pressure (define)
Difference between the systolic and diastolic blood pressure is greater than 40mmHg
Pulse pressure (Indication)
Above 30-40mmHg is often indicative of cardiac issues
Normal temperature
37 C / 98.6 F
Fever temperature
38 C / 100.4 F
Celsius to Fahrenheit formula
T (F) = ( T (C) * 1.8) + 32
Hypothermia temperature
35 C / 95
Bradypnea
Rate below 12
Tachypnea
Rate above 20, rates above 30 indicate impending critical illness
Cheyne-Stokes breathing (characteristics)
Characterized by progressively deeper and sometimes faster breathing, followed by a gradual decrease that results in temporary apnea