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Vital Signs
Chapter 12 for Fundamentals
Question | Answer |
---|---|
List the Vital Signs | 1. Temperature 2. Pulse Rate 3. Respiration Rate 4. Blood Pressure 5. Pain |
2 Types of Body Temperature | Core and surface |
Above normal body temperature | Pyrexia, febrile and hyperthermia |
What part of the body regulates temperature? | Hypothalamus |
Factors that affects body temperature. | Age, exercise, hormonal influences, diurnal (daily) variations, stress, environment, ingestion of food and hot and cold liquids, smoking. |
Sign and symptoms of elevated Body temperature | Anorexia, disorientation/convulsions in infants & children, elevated pulse & respiratory rates, flushed warm skin, glassy eyes/photophobia (light sensitivity), headaches, increased perspiration, irritability, restlessness/excessive sleepiness, thirst |
How much is one kilogram (kg) converted to pounds(lbs)? | 2.2 pounds (lbs) |
What is the formula for kilogram (kg) to pounds (lbs)? | kg x 2.2 lbs = lbs |
When should you measure vital signs? | -On admission and discharge to a health care facility. -When assessing a patient during home care visits. -In a hospital on a routine schedule according to orders. |
Hypothermia? | When the body temperature is abnormally low. |
Above 100.4 F? | Considered as a fever |
At what temperature can potentially cause damage to normal body cells ? | 105 F |
Factor that influence pulse rate. | Acute pain and anxiety (sympathetic stimulation), Age (decreases when getting older), Exercise (short term increases, long term lower hr), Fever & heat (hypothermia decreases HR), Hemorrhage (loos of blood increases HR), Medication |
Factor that influence pulse rate. | Metabolism (hyperthyroidism elevates while hypothyroidism slows down), Postural changes (lying down decreases), Pulmonary conditions (increase HR), unrelieved severe pain & chronic pain (decreases because of parasympathetic stimulation), |
Factor that influence pulse rate. | Dehydration (increases) Fluid Volume Excess (Increase HR) |
Tachycardia | Pulse is faster than 100 beats |
Bradycardia | Pulse is slower than 60 beats |
Heart block | cardiac condition that decreases HR |
Dysrhythmia | irregular pulse |
Least accurate method of taking tempurature | Axilla |
Most accurate and reliable temperature | Rectal |
How long does it take for the body to regulate temperature? | At least 10 minutes |
What is the normal pulse rate for an adult? | 60-100 HR |
Diaphragm of stethoscope | Circular flat-surfaced portion of the chest piece that auscultate bowel, lung, and heart sounds, also makes a tight seal against patient's skin |
Bell of stethoscope | Bowl-shaped chest piece that transmits low-pitched sounds created by low-velocity movement of blood. |
What can cause postural/orthostatic? | Diuretics/General Anesthesia/Hemorrhage |
What equipment is needed to take an apical pulse? | stethoscope |
Explain the difference between systolic and diastolic | systolic - when heart contracts diastolic - when heart relaxes |
Apical heart rate | number of ventrivular contractions per minute |
Arrhythmia | irregular patterns of heart beats |
Bradypnea | slow respiratory rate |
What part of the body maintains a balance between heat production and heat loss, regulating body temperature? | Hypothalamus |
What type of body temperature remains relatively constant? | Core |
The nurse uses cooling techniques to keep the body temperature below 105 F. what can result from an elevated temperature? | Damage to body cells |
The emergency department nurse quickly assesses the temperature of an unconscious patient who has been outside all night in below-freezing temperatures. what temperature is the nurse aware of that can lead to death? | 93.2 F |
What is the term for a fever that rises and falls but does not return to normal until the patient is well? | Remittent |
How should the nurse position the ear pinna when using the tympanic thermometer on a child? | Downwards and back |
How should the nurse position the earpieces on a stethoscope to ensure optimum reception? | Towards the face |
What does the nurse use the diaphragm of the stethoscope to best assess? | Lung sounds |
What is the pulse - the expansion and contraction of an artery - produced by? | Contraction of the left ventricle |
When assessing vital signs on a 40-year-old male, the nurse identifies a pulse rate of 120 beats/min. what is this pulse interpreted as by the nurse? | Tachycardia |
The patient's pulse is below 60 beats/min. the nurse is aware that the patients is not receiving digoxin. what does the nurse suspect is causing the bradycardia? | Unrelieved severed pain |
What site should be selected if a peripheral pulse needs to be assessed quickly? | Carotid pulse |
What is the term for the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen that takes place at the alveolar level? | External respiration |
A patient is suspected of having a cardiac arrhythmia. The nurse is concerned with the findings of an apical rate of 88 and a radial rate of 80. What is the term for the difference between these 2 rates? | Pulse deficit |
The nurse is alarmed when a patient with a severe head injury of the occipital lobe has a respiratory rate of 10 breaths/min. Where might this finding indicate that there is an injury? | Medulla Oblongata |
The nurse assesses respiration of a patient demonstrating pursed-lip breathing, flared nostrils, and retractions. How will the nurse describe these respirations? | Dyspnea |
A nurse assesses a neonate's temperature by using a temporal artery scanner. What intervention should the nurse implement if the neonate's temperature is 96 F? | Record the findings |
A nurse assesses a patient's dorsalis pedis pulse. The pulse is difficult to feel and not palpable when only slight pressure is applied. How should the nurse document this finding? | Thready pulse |
A nurse assesses a patient's dorsalis pedis pulse. The pulse is not palpable when light pressure is applied. How should the nurse document this finding? | Weak pulse |
A nurse assesses a patient's dorsalis pedis pulse. The pulse is easily felt but not palpable when moderate pressure is applied. How should the nurse document this finding? | Normal pulse |
A nurse assesses a patient's dorsalis pedis pulse. The pulse feels full and springlike even under moderate pressure. how should the nurse document this finding? | Bounding pulse |
When instructing a primary caregiver about keeping a daily log of blood pressure readings, what instructions should the nurse include? | Apply the cuff approximately 2 in above the antecubital fossa Apply the cuff snugly |
When assessing factors that may influence the patient's pulse rate, what should the nurse take into consideration? | Age Sex Emotion Temperature |
A patient is admitted to a medical surgical unit. What factors will determine how frequently vital signs will assessed? | Judgment of need by the nurse Orders of the health care provider Patient's condition |
The home health nurse is preparing to educate a patient regarding electronic self-blood pressure measurement. What information should the nurse provide regarding this procedure? | Proper measurement techniques are necessary Cuff fits over clothing Stethoscope is not required |
The health care provider orders daily weights on a patient residing in a long-term care setting. what action should the nurse implement to assess weight accurately? | Weigh patient at the same time each day Encourage patient to void before being weighed Ensure same amount of clothing is worm by patient |
The nurse assesses for the fifth vital sign, which is | Pain |
If a patient has an axillary temperature of 96.2 F, the nurse understands that the true temperature is | 97.2 F |
The nurse assesses the blood pressure as 192/86, noting that the patient has a pulse pressure of | 106 |