Download Chapter 27: Vital Signs

Chapter 27
Vital Signs
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Produced in the United States of America
ISBN 0-7216-9770-4
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Introduction
Vital signs can provide you with a minimum
level of determining a patient’s health status.
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Factors Influencing Vital Signs
 Emotional influences

• Stress
• Fear
Physical influences
• Illness
• Drinking or eating
• Rushed
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Temperature
 Degree of the hotness or coldness of body



temperature.
Temperature readings
• Average range for adult: 97.6° F - 99° F
Thermometer types
• Glass (Figure 27-2)
• Electronic (Figure 27-7)
• Tympanic (Figure 27-8)
Procedure
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Fig. 27-2 Glass thermometer.
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Fig. 27-7 Electronic thermometer.
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Fig. 27-8 Tympanic thermometer.
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Pulse
 A rhythmic expansion of the artery each time


the heart beats.
Pulse sites
• Radial artery
• Brachial artery
• Carotid artery
Pulse Characteristics
• Rate
• Rhythm
• Volume
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Pulse- cont’d
 Pulse readings


• Adult resting: 60-100 beats per minute
• Child: 70-120 beats per minute
Irregularity
• Arrhythmia: An irregularity in the force or
rhythm of the heartbeat
Procedure
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Respiration
 The process of inhaling and exhaling, or “breathing.”
 Respiration characteristics
• Rate: Total number of breaths per minute
• Rhythm: Breathing pattern
• Depth: Amount of air inhaled and exhaled
 Respiration readings
• Adult: 10-20 breaths per minute
• Child to teenage: 18-30 breaths per minute
 Procedure
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Blood Pressure
 The amount of work the heart has to exert to

pump blood throughout the body.
Two pressures of the heart
• Systolic: Reflects the amount of pressure it
takes for the left ventricle of the heart to
compress or push oxygenated blood out into
the blood vessels.
• Diastolic: The heart muscle at rest when it is
allowing the heart to take in blood to be
oxygenated before the next contraction.
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Blood Pressure- cont’d
 Blood pressure readings
• Adult ‹130 systolic/‹ 85 diastolic
 Blood pressure equipment
• Sphygmomanometer
• Cuff
• Rubber bulb
• Stethoscope
• Automated blood pressure
 Korotkoff sounds
• Five phases of sounds
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
Additional Techniques
 Electrocardiogram: A graph or tracing of
the heart’s activity
• Cardiac cycle
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.