Blood pressure measures the force in which blood is pushed against artery walls when your heart contracts and relaxes. Monitoring blood pressure allows you to assess heart health. Two numbers are recorded when measuring blood pressure.
The higher number displays the pressure inside the artery when the heart pumps blood to the body. The lower number represents artery pressure when the heart is at rest. When these numbers are too high, the arteries have a difficult time resisting blood flow, which makes the heart work extra hard. Abnormal blood pressure signals underlying problems like heart disease and can lead to a medical emergency like a stroke. Keeping an eye on your blood pressure can determine if you need to make lifestyle adjustments or require medicinal treatment.
Your heart rate is a snapshot of your fitness level, emotional wellbeing, and heart health. It measures how many times your heart beats per minute. A healthy resting heart rate is between 60 and beats per minute. Vital signs monitoring devices allow you to track your heart rate and determine the average heart rate for your body. Fluctuations in heart rate are due to:.
Recognizing when your heart rate is high and taking measures to keep it at a healthy level reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease and other medical problems. Your respiration rate is the number of times you breathe in one minute. Normal respiration rates for adults range from 12 to 20 breaths a minute. Monitoring respiration rates can detect early signs of a respiratory illness or allergy. Respiration levels also increase due to an infection.
Tracking your respiration levels can help you detect an illness before it infects the rest of your body. Temperature and pulse ox: If you are using an oral thermometer, put a probe cover on it.
Have the patient hold the probe under their tongue until the temperature has registered. If you are using an ear thermometer, hold the thermometer in the ear until the reading has been taken. Record findings in the chart or EHR. Ear thermometer and fingertip pulse oximeter devices Pulse: Place your index and middle finger between the bone and tendon on the thumb side of the wrist, over the radial artery. Determine the strength of the pulse, noting whether the thrust is bounding, strong, weak, or thread.
If the pulse is normal, count the number of beats in 30 seconds and multiple by two. If the pulse is irregular, count the rate for a full 60 seconds. Assess the frequency and pattern of irregularity and record along with the pulse rate in the chart or EHR. Ensure the proper cuff size is used, especially for children or patients who are large or obese. Using the stethoscope, place the diaphragm at the base of the inner elbow. This is the brachial artery.
Why do we check patient vital signs? A body temperature range must be kept for the body to function properly. Body temperature should not only be checked if a patient has a fever, but a baseline should be set for future appointments to catch abnormalities.
The normal human body temperature ranges from 97 degrees to 99 degrees Fahrenheit. The part of the body is chosen based on age, condition, and state of consciousness. Heat is produced in the body when nutrients are broken down in the cells. Heat can be produced by contraction of the muscles, during digestion, when shivering or from fever. Heat is lost from the body in urine, feces, water vapor from the lungs and perspiration. There are three different types of heat loss, they include radiation, conduction, convection and evaporation.
High temperatures in the body can indicate disease or illness. A fever is a body temperature greater than Hyperpyrexia is a body temperature greater than A body temperature greater than Hypothermia is a body temperature less than 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Blood pressure is the measurement of the pressure of the blood in an artery as it is forced against the artery walls. The highest level during contraction is recorded as the systolic pressure. As the heart pauses briefly to rest and refill, the arterial pressure drops.
Normal respiration rates for a resting adult range from 12 to 16 breaths per minute. Respiration rates may increase with fever, illness, and with other medical conditions. In many cases, changes in respiratory rate will be the first indication of a possible deterioration, much sooner than changes in other vital signs. SpO2: Also known as Oxygen Saturation, SpO2 is the fraction of oxygen saturated- hemoglobin relative to the total hemoglobin in the blood.
Normal blood oxygen levels in humans are considered percent. Fill out the form to download or order a printed version of the User Guides s.
0コメント