Vital Signs Flashcards
What is another name for vital signs and what do they provide
- Cardinal Signs
- Provide quantitative measures of the status of the cardiovascular and
pulmonary systems
-HR
-BP
-RR
When observing the patient, what signs should you look for
- signs of distress or discomfort
- Diaphoresis
• Body working to compensate for reduced cardiac output
• Associated with hypotension - use of accessory breathing muscles
- Clubbing
-swelling of fingers and toes
-long standing hypoxia
——pulmonary disorders, congenital heart defects
collecting Baseline measures are especially important for which populations
Elderly
• Younger than 2 years old
• Debilitated patients
• Persons who have had limited aerobic activities for extended periods
• Persons with previous or current history of cardiovascular problems
• Persons recovering from recent trauma
• Especially if cardiovascular system is compromised
if abnormal vital signs are present, what should you do
determine cause prior to initiation of activity since activity may influence vital signs
how do we use vital signs in PT
Develop goals
• Assess response
• Treatment effectiveness
what 4 factors influence vital signs
- Physical activity
- External temperature
- Emotional status
- Psychological status
what are some adverse responses to activity
- nausea
- syncope
- vertigo
- diaphoresis
- change in appearance
- decrease in BP
- pupil constriction or dilation
- mental confusion
- fatigue
- lethargy
- exhaustion
- slow reactions
- decrease response
what are the typical temperature ranges for oral temps in adults
96.8-100.3
what is the center for thermoregulation
hypothalamus
what are the main effectors for thermoregulation
- vasucular
- metabolic
- muscle responses
- sweating
what factors affect body temp
- time of day
- age
- emotions or stress
- exercise
- pregnancy
- external environment
- measurement site
what are the 7 sites to assess body temp
- Oral cavity
- Rectal cavity
- Axilla
- Ear canal
- Forehead
- Temporal lobe
- Inguinal fold
is pulse a direct or indirect measure
indirect measure of the left ventricle contraction
normal pulse ranges for
- adults
- newborns
- children 1-7
- adults: 60-100 beats/min
- newborn: 100-130
- children age 1-7 80-120
what factors can affect pulse
- medications
- can increase or decrease depending - physical exercise
- better conditioned will have lower
- should revert to resting within 3-5 min after stopping exercise - age
- over 65 may have lower pulse
- adolescents and younger may be higher - gender
- males usually lower - environment
- infection
- emotional state
regarding pulse what is:
- strong and regular
- weak and regular
- irregular=arrhythmia
- thready
- tachycardia
- bradycardia
- strong and regular=even beats, good force
- weak and regular=even beats with poor force
- irregular=both strong and weak beats
- thready=weak force to each beat and irregular
- tachy=rapid HR >100
- brady=slow HR <60
7 pulse measurement sites
- carotid
- brachial
- radial
- femoral
- popliteal
- posterior tibial
- dorsalis pedis
abnormal pulse responses during exercise
- does not increase
- slowly increases
- declines as exercise plateaus
- does not decline as exercise declines
- declines before intensity declines
- pulse rhythms become irregular
what does pulse oximetry measure
- level of blood oxygen saturation
95-100% normal
what is BP
measure of
- cardiac output
- peripheral resistance
- hemodynamic factors
normal BP for infants birth-3 mo
85-90 systolic
35-65 diastolic
normal BP for infants 3mo-1 y
90-100 systolic
60-67 diastolic
normal BP for children 1-4y
100-108 systolic
60 diastolic
normal bp for children 4-12y
+2per year to 100 systolic
60-70 diastolic
