Vital Signs Flashcards
What are the 4 vital signs?
BP, Temperature, pulse, breathing rate
What is temperature?
The balance between heat lost and heat produced by the body.
How is heat lost?
Perspiration, respiration, excretion
What are the ways we produce heat?
Metabolism during digestion and muscle and gland activity
What is homeostasis?
Constant state of fluid balance
What is affected by temp being too low or too high?
The body’s fluid balance
What influences differences in peoples normal range in temp?
Some have lower bc of slower body processes
Some have higher bc of higher processes
How does the time of day affect ones temperature?
Lower in morning after sleep and higher in evening after muscle activity and metabolism
How does different body sites affect temperature?
Different areas are lower or higher than others
How many ways are there to take temperature?
5 places Orally Rectal Axillary Aural Temporal
What is Hypothermia?
Lower than 95F taken rectally
Death temp is 93F for a period of time
What is pyrexia?
Also known as fever
101F taken rectally
Caused by infection or injury
What is febrile and afebrile?
Fever present/ no fever present
What is hyperthermia?
Higher temp of 104F + taken rectally
Caused by exposure to hot temps, severe infections
Can lead to convulsions or brain damage, even death
What is clinical glass therm?
Slender glass tube filled with mercury or alcohol which expands when exposed to heat
How should one to attempt to read a clinical glass thermometer?
Eye level
Rotate to find solid column of mercury
Why do we write temp as a superscript? Ex 100.2 becomes 100^2
Because numbers can easily mixed up
What are the 4 types of thermometers?
Clinical, Electronic, Tympanic, Temporal
what is pulse?
The pressure of the blood pushing against the wall of an artery as the heart beats and rests.
What is temporal?
Sides of forehead
What is carotid?
Neck or side of trachea
Brachial?
Crease of elbow
Radial?
On wrist
Femoral?
Groin
Popiteal
Behind knee
Dorsalis pedis
Top of foot arch
Posterior Tibial
Below and behind medial malleolus
bony inner part of ankle
3 things noted on pulse
Rate rhythm and volume
Rate?
Is measured by a number of beats per min.
Adults 60-100 bpm
Infants 100-160 bpm
Bradycardia
Pulse rate under 60 bpm
Tachycardia
Pulse rate over 100 bpm
Rhythm
Regularity of pulse
Volume
Strength, quality, force
What increases pulse rates?
Exercise
Shock
Fever
Excitement
What can lower pulse rates
Sleep
Heart dz
Coma
What is blood pressure?
Measurement of the pressure that the blood exerts on the walls of the arteries during various heart activity stages
What instrument is used for BP?
Sphygmomanometer
What is systolic?
In the walls of the arteries when the left ventricle of the heart is contracting and pushing blood into arteries
Diastolic BP?
Constant pressure in the walls of the arteries when the left ventricle is at rest
How is BP recorded?
As a fraction
Systolic/diastolic
What is normal BP
30-50 Hg
