Unit 4 Lesson 3: Pulse, Respiration, and Oxygenation Flashcards
What is the pulse
The pulse is the heartbeat that can be felt on surface arteries as the blood moves through the body. The pulse is the rhythm that can be felt as the artery wall expands to accept the blood and then contracts as the blood continues on its path through the body.
How to determine the pulse rate
To determine the pulse rate, you count the number of beats per minute.
Other assessments of pulse include
Other assessments of pulse include checking for a consistent rhythm and whether the pulse quality is weak, normal, or full.
The most common way to take a pulse is by measuring radial pulse
the beat of the heart as felt through the walls of the radial artery, at the wrist.
Other sites where you can feel a pulse include
on the side of the neck at the carotid artery, the side of the head at the temporal artery, and where the thigh attaches to the body at the femoral artery.
What are peripheral pulses
These are all peripheral pulses, or pulses that are taken away from the center of the body.
Another way to measure pulse rate is by using a stethoscope to listen at the point of maximum pulse close to the heart. This is called the
apical pulse
radical pulse Other sites where you can feel a pulse include on the side of the neck at the carotid artery, the side of the head at the temporal artery, and where the thigh attaches to the body at the femoral artery. Why kind of pulses are these
These are all peripheral pulses
Respiration
the action of breathing, involves both the movement of air in and out of the body and the chemical aspects of exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide and circulating gases throughout the body.
How to count respiration
When counting to determine respiration rate, the full cycle of breathing in and breathing out counts as one respiration.
Assessing Breathing: Depth
A subjective evaluation of how much or how little the chest or abdomen rises during breathing
Assessing Breathing: Rhythm
The intervals between respiratory cycles indicates regular or irregullar breathing rhythms
1.
Assessing Breathing: Effort
The degree of work required to breathe
How to make assessments of respiration
Assessments of respiration can be done by placing your hand on the patient’s chest or by watching the chest and abdomen rise and fall. Respiration may also be assessed by listening to the breathing with a stethoscope.
Assessing Breathing: Sounds
Wheezing, gurling sounds, couhging, crackles, piercing or snoring sounds indicate adnormal breathing
Why is it best to measure repsiration when the paitnet in unaware and how to do so
Because people can control their breathing rate, it is best to count respirations when the patient is unaware of what you are doing. In many situations, you can measure pulse rate and respiration rate at the same time, which can help distract from the process so you will get an accurate rate of respiration.
Pulse and respiration rates change throughout the lifespan and in response to
exercise, disease or injury, position of the body, medications, and other factors.
How do rates change as we get older
In general, both rates may be faster in younger patients and slow somewhat as we age.
Why do babies have a higher pulse and respiration rate? Why does this slow as we grow up?
First, babies have a high rate of growth and growth requires not just food but oxygen, so babies need more circulation to bring nutrients and oxygen to their fast-growing tissues. You could put this another way: babies have a much higher metabolic rate than adults, and as we age, this rate slows down as our growth slows. The second reason is that a smaller human has more surface area compared to the inside areas of the body, and heat loss is faster. Babies need this faster pulse and respiration to help counter heat loss.
One more vital sign that you might measure when you are assessing pulse and breathing is the
oxygen saturation of the blood.
The non-invasive way to assess oxygen saturation is by using a
pulse oximeter
pulse oximeter
pulse oximeter, a device that measures the proportion of oxygen saturation in the blood.
How do pulse oximeters work
Pulse oximeters often use light along with electronic processors to measure the oxygen saturation by clipping a monitor on the finger, earlobe, or sometimes foot of the patient.
What is a normal oxygen saturation of the blood.
Normal readings are 95-100 percent, and lower levels may require intervention
What do most oximeters measure
Most oximeters also measure pulse rate, and some are integrated into more complex monitors that can check many vital signs at once.
palpation
When you examine a part of the body with touch in a healthcare setting, it is called palpation
