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What are Vital signs?Measures of the body’s most basic functions
Heart RateBlood PressureTemperatureRespiration Rate
These measures help assess the basic physiological state of the body – provides a baseline for comparison
When they’re not zero = person alive
All vital signs can be …Observed, Measured, and Monitored
Normal ranges of vital signs change with AGE and MEDICAL CONDITIONS
Our bodies are always trying to maintain HOMEOSTASIS – a constancy in the internal environment of the body, naturally maintained by adaptive responses that promote healthy survival.
Ex: sweating to cool body temperature
Body Temperature The human body has an ideal temperature, and it
works to maintain it, this is called:
THERMOREGULATION
Measurement: oral, axillary, tympanic, rectal
Respiratory Rate Respiratory System delivers oxygen to the
body’s tissues & eliminates carbon dioxide.
Major muscle of ventilation: diaphragm
Measured in “breaths per minute”
Adults: 12 – 20 bpm
Children: 20 – 30 bpm
Newborns: 30 – 60 bpm
Other factors affecting respiration
Pain, anxiety, exercise
Trauma, infection, medication
Respiratory and cardiovascular disease
Alteration in fluid, electrolyte and Acid-base balances
Increase in blood CO2 is most powerful respiratory stimulant
Measuring respiration rateThrough observation – one full inspiration and
expiration (don’t tell them when you’re counting)
Normal adult 12-20 bpm
Tachypnea = respiration >20 bpm
Bradypnea = respiration < 10 bpm
Apnea = absence of breathing
Dyspnea = difficulty breathing
PulsePulse rate: Adult = 60 to 100 beats
per minute
Children under 10 = 70 to 120 beats per minute
Tachycardia – rapid pulse (>100 bpm)
Bradycardia- low pulse (<60 bpm)
Factors contributing to increased pulse rate
Pain, fever, stress, exercise
Bleeding, decrease in BP, some medications like adrenalin (epi-pen)
Factors contributing to decreased pulse rate
Age, rest, thin body size
some medications like Beta-blockers (also help lower BP)
Blood Pressure Measure of the force exerted by blood on the
arterial walls during contraction & relaxation.
Measured pressure when the heart is relaxed: Diastolic
Measured pressure when the heart is contracted: Systolic
Measured with a Sphygmomanometer
Blood Pressure cont’d Recorded in millimeters of mercury
(mm Hg) with systolic over diastolic
Normal adult systolic: 95-140 mm Hg
Normal adult diastolic: 60-90 mm Hg
Hypertension = high blood pressure (age, obesity, exercise, emotions, food intake,
Hypotension = low blood pressure