NURS 1160: Vital Signs - Temperature, Pulse, Respiration
43 flashcards
- Vital Signs
- The basic measurements of body function: temperature, pulse, respirations, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation
- ABC Prio
- Order of priority in an emergency: airway, then breathing, then circulation
- Baseline
- The first set of measurements, used to compare all later ones
- Core Temperature
- Temperature of the deep tissues (head, chest, abdomen, pelvis); stays near 37°C
- Pulse Pressure
- Systolic minus diastolic pressure (for 120/80, it is 40)
- Oxygen Saturation
- Percentage of hemoglobin carrying oxygen (normal 95 to 100%)
- Thermoregulation
- Balancing heat production and heat loss to keep body temperature stable
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
- Energy the body uses at complete rest just to stay alive
- Shivering
- Involuntary muscle contractions that produce heat
- Nonshivering Thermogenesis
- How newborns make heat: burning brown fat, because they cannot shiver well
- Radiation
- Heat leaving the body to the air or objects around it, without touching them
- Conduction
- Heat moving through direct contact, e.g., an ice pack on the skin
- Convection
- Heat carried away by moving air, e.g., a fan blowing on the skin
- Evaporation
- Heat lost as sweat turns into vapour on the skin
- Diaphoresis
- Visible sweating, mostly on the forehead and upper chest
- Insulation
- The skin and the fat under it, slowing heat loss from the body
- Vasoconstriction
- Blood vessels narrowing to keep heat in the body's core
- Behavioural Control
- Things a person chooses to do to stay comfortable, like adding a blanket
- Pyrexia
- Body temperature above the normal range; another word for fever
- Pyrogens
- Bacteria and viruses that cause fever by raising the hypothalamus's set point
- Afebrile
- Describes a patient whose temperature is back to normal
- Febrile
- Describes a patient who has a fever
- Malignant Hyperthermia
- Inherited, life-threatening overheating of the muscles, set off by certain anesthetic drugs
- Heatstroke
- Emergency where long heat exposure stops the hypothalamus from working; very high temperature (often 40°C or more), hot dry skin, high death rate
- Heat Exhaustion
- Heavy sweating that drains too much water and electrolytes
- Hypothermia
- Core temperature drops because cold exposure removes heat faster than the body makes it
- Frostbite
- Medical condition where skin and underlying body tissues freeze after being exposed to freezing or sub-zero temperatures.
- Pulse
- The beat felt over an artery as the heart pushes blood through it
- Heart Rate Regulation
- Set by the autonomic nervous system: sympathetic speeds the heart up, parasympathetic slows it down
- Stroke Volume
- Amount of blood the heart pumps out with each contraction
- Cardiac Output
- Blood pumped per minute: heart rate x stroke volume
- Radial Pulse
- Pulse felt at the thumb side of the wrist; the usual site in adults
- Apical Pulse
- Heartbeat heard with a stethoscope at the apex of the heart (5th intercostal space, left midclavicular line); the most accurate heart rate
- Heart Rate Assessment
- Checking the pulse's rate, rhythm, strength, and equality
- Heart Sounds
- S1 (AV valves closing) and S2 (semilunar valves closing); together they make one heartbeat
- Tachycardia
- Adult heart rate above 100 beats/min
- Bradycardia
- Adult heart rate below 60 beats/min
- Pulse Deficit
- Apical rate minus radial rate; shows heartbeats too weak to reach the wrist
- Respiration
- How the body exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide; made up of ventilation, diffusion, and perfusion
- Ventilation
- Moving air in and out of the lungs
- Diffusion
- O2 and CO2 crossing between the alveoli and red blood cells
- Perfusion
- Blood flow through the pulmonary capillaries
- Hypoxemia
- Low oxygen in arterial blood; the body breathes faster and deeper to make up for it