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Vital Signs

  1. Traditional Vital signs (4)
    • - Body temp
    • - Pulse
    • - Respirations
    • - Blood pressure
    • - Pain (Designated by certain agencies)
    • - Oxygen saturation (commonly measured at the same time as traditional vital signs)
  2. ______ ______, should be looked at in total, are checked to monitor the functions of the body.
    Vital signs
  3. UAP
    Unlicensed Assistive Personnel
  4. _____ _________ reflects the balance between the heat produced and the heat lost from the body, and is measured in heat units called degrees.
    Body temperature
  5. What are the 2 kinds of body temperature?
    • - core temperature
    • - surface temperature
  6. The temperature of the deep tissues of the body, such as the abdominal cavity and pelvic cavity. It remains relatively constant.
    Core temperature
  7. The temperature of the skin, the subcutaneous tissue, and fat. It, by contrast, rises and falls in response to the environment.
    Surface temperature
  8. When the amount of heat produced by the body equals the amount of heat lost, the person is in _____ _______.
    heat balance
  9. A number of factors affect the body's heat production. The most important are these five:
    • 1. Basal matabolic rate (BMR)
    • 2. Muscle activity
    • 3. Thyroxine output
    • 4. Epinephrine, norepinephrine, and sympathetic stimulation/stress response
    • 5. Fever
  10. The rate of energy utilization in the body required to maintain essential activities such as breating. Rates decrease with age. In general, the younger the person, the higher the rate.
    Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
  11. This includes shivering, which increase the metabolic rate.
    Muscle activity
  12. Increased output increases the rate of cellular metabolism in many body tissues.
    Thyroxine output
  13. These hormones immediately increase the rate of cellular metabolism in many body tissues.
    • - Epinephrine
    • - Norepinephrine
    • - Sympathetic stimulation/stress response
  14. This increases the cellular metabolic rate and thus increases the body's temperature further.
    Fever
  15. Heat is lost from the body thru:
    • - radiation
    • - conduction
    • - convection
    • - evaporation
  16. The transfer of heat from the surface of one object to the surface of another w/o contact b/t the two objects, mostly in the form of infrared rays.
    Radiation
  17. The transfer of heat from one molecule to a molecule of lower temperature. Cannot take place w/o contact b/t the molecules & normally accounts for minimal heat loss except, for example, when a body is immersed in cold water.
    Conduction
  18. The dispersion of heat by air currents. The body usually has a small amount of warm air adjacent to it. The warm air rises and is replaced by cooler air, so people always lose a small amount of heat this way.
    Convection
  19. Continuous vaporization of moisture from the respiratory tract and from the mucosa of the mouth and from the skin.
    Evaporation
  20. Continuous and unnoticed water loss
    insensible water loss
  21. Continuous and unnoticed heat loss; accounts for 10% of basal heat loss.
    insensible heat loss
  22. Regulation of body temp --> 3 main parts
    • 1. sensors in the periphery & in the core
    • 2. an integrator in the hypothalamus
    • 3. effector system that adjusts the production & loss of heat
  23. Most sensors or sensory receptors are in the ____.
    skin
  24. The skin has more receptors for _____.
    cold
  25. When the skin becomes chilled over the entire body, 3 physiological processes to increase the body temp take place.
    • 1. Shivering increases heat production
    • 2. Sweating is inhibited to decrease heat loss
    • 3. Vasoconstriction decrease heat loss
  26. The center that controls the core temp is the ______ ______.
    hypothalamic integrator
  27. Factors Affecting Body Temp
    • 1. Age
    • 2. Diurnal variations (circadian rhythms)
    • 3. Exercise
    • 4. Hormones
    • 5. Stress
    • 6. Environment
  28. 2 primary alterations in body temp
    • 1. pyrexia
    • 2. hypothermia
  29. A body temp above the usual range
    pyrexia, hyperthermia, or fever
  30. Normal body temp for adults
    96.8°F - 99.5°F (36°C - 37.5°C)
  31. A very high fever
    hyperpyrexia
  32. The client who has a fever is referred to as _____; the one who does not is ______.
    febrile; afebrile
  33. 4 common types of fever
    • 1. intermittent
    • 2. remittent
    • 3. relapsing
    • 4. constant
  34. The body temp alternates at regular intervals between periods of fever & periods of normal or subnormal temps.
    intermittent fever
  35. A wide range of temp fluctuations (more than 2°C [3.6°F]) occurs over a 24-hour period, all of which are above normal, such as with cold or influenza.
    remittent fever
  36. Short febrile periods of a few days are interspersed with periods of 1 or 2 days of normal temp.
    relapsing fever
  37. The body temp fluctuates minimally but always remains above normal. This can occur with typhoid fever.
    constant fever
  38. A temp that rises to fever level rapidly following a normal temp & then returns to normal w/in a few hours. Often caused by bacterial blood infections.
    fever spike
  39. Core body temp below the lower limit of normal.
    hypothermia
  40. 3 physiological mechanisms of hypothermia
    • 1. excessive heat loss
    • 2. inadequate heat production to counteract heat loss
    • 3. impaired hypothalamic thermoregulation
  41. Most common sites for assessing body temp:
    • - oral
    • - rectal
    • - axillary
    • - tympanic membrane
    • - skin/temporal artery
  42. (F - 32) X 5/9
    Celsius
  43. (C X 9/5) + 32
    Fahrenheit
  44. A wave of blood created by contraction of the left ventricle of the heart.
    Pulse
  45. The volume of blood pumped into the arteries by the heart & equals the result of the stroke volume (SV) times the heart rate (HR) per minute.
    Cardiac output
  46. When an adult is resting, the heart pumps about _ liters of blood each minute.
    5
  47. A pulse located away from the heart, for example, in the foot or wrist.
    Peripheral pulse
  48. A central pulse, that is, it is located at the apex of the heart.
    Apical pulse; also referred to as the point of maximal impulse (PMI)
  49. Factors Affecting the Pulse
    • 1. age
    • 2. sex
    • 3. exercise
    • 4. fever
    • 5. medications
    • 6. hypovolemia/dehydration
    • 7. stress
    • 8. position
    • 9. pathology
  50. List the 9 pulse sites
    • 1. Radial (wrist)
    • 2. Temporal (temple)
    • 3. Carotid (side of the neck)
    • 4. Apical (apex of the heart)
    • 5. Brachial (inner aspect of the biceps muscle or medially in the antecubital space)
    • 6. Femoral (leg; inguinal ligament)
    • 7. Popliteal (behind the knee)
    • 8. Posterior tibial (posterior surface of the ankle, behind the medial malleolus)
    • 9. Dorsalis pedis (middle of the foot, b/t the big and 2nd toes)
  51. An excessively fast heart rate (over 100 beats/min in an adult).
    tachycardia
  52. A heart rate in an adult of less than 60 beats/min.
    bradycardia
  53. The pattern of the beats and the intervals b/t the beats.
    pulse rhythm
  54. A pulse with an irregular rhythm is referred to as a ______ or _______.
    dysrhythmia; arrhythmia
  55. Also called the pulse strength or amplitude, refers to the force of blood with each beat.
    pulse volume
Author
Anonymous
ID
98017
Card Set
Vital Signs
Description
Vital Signs
Updated

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