Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Tympanic Thermometer
Glass Thermometers
Normal and Abnormal Findings
• Normal body temperature ranges from
0.5°F to 1°F above or below the range
considered “normal”
• Pyrexia: increased body temperature
– A person with pyrexia is said to be
“febrile”
– The doctor may order an antipyretic
(fever-reducing) drug
Reading
• Oral ---97.6F-99.6F or 36.5C-37.5C
• Rectal– 98.6F-100.6F or 37-38.1C
• Axillary—96.6-98.6F or 36-37C
• Tympanic—98.6 F or 37.0C
• Temporal –99.6F or 37.5C
Do not take a rectal temperature on:
• Pt with hemorrhoids, rectal bleeding or a disease
involving the rectum
• Diarrhea
• Has had rectal surgery
• Has certain heart conditions
Tell the Nurse
• Temp is higher than normal
• Temp is lower than normal
• You are having difficulty reading the patients
temperature
Pulse
What Is a Pulse?
• When the heart beats, it sends a wave, or
pulse, of blood through the arteries
• When checking the pulse, we look at the
– Pulse rate
– Pulse rhythm
•Irregular pulse rhythm is called
dysrhythmia
– Pulse amplitude
Factors Affecting Pulse
• Physical activity (increases the body’s need
for oxygen and nutrients)
• Anger and anxiety, illness, pain, fever, and
excitement
• Certain medications
Measuring the Pulse
• Radial Pulse: Taken by placing fingers over
the radial artery (inside of wrist)
• Apical Pulse: Taken by listening over the
apex of the heart with a stethoscope
Apical Pulse
• Should be taken when a patient has a weak or irregular
pulse
• The pulse of choice for infants and with patients with
know heart disease
• Assess the Apical pulse by placing the stethoscope obver
the apex of the heart under the patient clothing
• Listen for ONE full minute
Pulse
Points
Pulse Point Assessment Video
• Numeric Scales
Blood Pressure
What Is Blood Pressure?
• The force that the blood exerts against the arterial
walls
• Two pressure levels
– Systolic pressure
– Diastolic pressure
• The difference between the two is pulse
pressure.
• Measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and
recorded as a fraction
Factors Affecting Blood Pressure
• Cardiac output
• Blood volume
• Resistance to blood flow
• Age
• Gender
• Race
• Stress factors
Measuring Blood Pressure
• Two ways of measuring:
– Manually operated
sphygmomanometer
and a stethoscope
– Automated
sphygmomanometers
Manually operated
sphygmomanometer
Normal and Abnormal Findings
• Accepted normal ranges for the systolic
pressure are between 100 and 140 mm Hg,
and for the diastolic pressure, between 60
and 90 mm Hg
• Abnormal ranges
– Hypertension
– Hypotension
– Orthostatic hypotension
Normal BP readings
• Adult 120/80
• Adolescent 102/80
• School aged child 100/62
• Preschooler 95/75
• Toddler 1-3 years of age 90/55
• Infant 0-12 months 73/55
Tell the Nurse --BP
• Case Study 1
• You are assigned to take vital signs on
all the residents in the north hall of
your facility. Mrs. Tito, in room 102,
has a cast on her left arm and an IV
line in her right.
Stop & Think
• Case Study 2
• You are taking vital signs that are routinely
done once every day for the residents on
your unit. Today, as you take Mr. Hayes
pulse, you notice that it does not feel as
strong as usual, and although his rate is
about what it always is, the rhythm is
irregular.
Discussion Topics