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Fundamentals of Providing Care by the PCT in the
Ambulatory and Inpatientcare Setting Glossary

• Hamza Al Arja, RN, BSN

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Measuring Vital Signs, Weight and Heigh

• Goals
• Discuss the importance of measuring vital signs
  accurately.
• Describe factors that can affect each of the
  four vital signs temperature, pulse,
  respirations and blood pressure.
• Describe equipment used to measure each of the
  four vital signs.
• Discuss considerations related to measuring each
  of the four vital signs safely and accurately.
• Describe when weight and height measurements are
  obtained.
• Discuss considerations related to measuring
  weight and height accurately.

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Measuring Vital Signs, Weight and Heigh

• In health care, there are four basic measurements
  that can tell us a great deal about how a
  persons body is functioning. These four
  measurementstemperature, pulse, respirations and
  blood pressureare called vital signs because
  they represent functions that are essential for
  life (vital comes from the Latin word for
  life).

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Measuring Vital Signs, Weight and Heigh

• As a nurse assistant, you will be responsible for
  the vital signs of those in your care. These
  measurements are always taken when a person is
  first admitted to a health care facility, at
  regular intervals throughout the persons stay at
  the facility

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Temperature

• Body temperature indicates the amount of heat
  produced by the body. Normally the body maintains
  a fairly constant temperature.
• Factors affecting body temp?
• Site. Common places to measure a persons body
  temperature include the mouth (an oral
  temperature), rectum (a rectal temperature), ear
  (a tympanic temperature) and armpit (an axillary
  temperature).

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Temperature

• Age. Body temperature is usually higher in
  newborns and lower in older adults.
• Degree of temp?

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Temperature
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Temperature Conversion

• Fahrenheit (F) to Celsius (C) - subtract 32 from
  F temp and then multiply by 0.5556
• Celsius (C) to Fahrenheit (F) - multiply C temp
  by 1.8 and then add 32

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Thermometer

• Def Equipment used to measure temperature
• Types
• Glass thermometer
• Electronic thermometer
• Tympanic thermometer

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Methods of checking Temp

• The method used to take a persons temperature
  depends on several factors. Using the wrong
  method to take a persons temperature can affect
  the persons safety, the accuracy of the
  measurement or both
• Oral method. Generally, the oral method is the
  preferred way to measure a persons body
  temperature because it is easy, causes the person
  minimal discomfort and embarrassment, and gives a
  measurement that accurately re?ects the internal
  body temperature.

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Methods of checking Temp

• 2. Rectal method. The rectal method for measuring
  a persons body temperature also accurately
  re?ects internal body temperature, but it can
  cause the person embarrassment and discomfort.
• 3. Axillary method. The axillary method is the
  least accurate way to measure a persons body
  temperature

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Methods of checking Temp
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Methods of checking Temp
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Pulse

• Each time the heart beats, it pushes blood
  through the arteries, vessels that carry blood
  away from the heart and throughout the body. The
  heartbeat creates a wave of blood, which you can
  feel pass through the artery
• Characteristics of the pulse
• 1- The pulse rate. When you count the number of
  times you feel a persons pulse beat in a minute,
  you know how fast the persons heart is beating.
  This number is called the heart rate or pulse

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Pulse

• 2- The pulse rhythm. When you describe the pulse
  rhythm, you describe how regular the pulse is. A
  pulse that comes at regular intervals (like the
  ticking of a clock) has a regular rhythm.
• 3- The pulse force. If the pulse is easy to feel,
  it is described as a full or strong pulse. A
  bounding pulse is a pulse that seems to push up
  against your ?ngertips. A thready pulse is a weak
  pulse that is very dif?cult to feel.

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Sites for evaluating the pulse

• Radial pulse. The radial pulse is evaluated by
  placing your ?ngers over the radial artery, on
  the inside of the wrist, and counting the number
  of pulsations that you feel in 1 minute.
• Apical pulse. When evaluating an apical pulse,
  you place a stethoscope over the apex of the
  heart and count each pulse beat by listening to
  it rather than feeling it.

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Sites for evaluating the pulse
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Respirations

• Respiration is the process of breathing. When we
  breathe, we take oxygen into the body and expel
  carbon dioxide (a waste product) from the body.
  Both of these functions are vital to life.
• Characteristics of respirations
• The respiratory rate. This is the number of
  respirations that occur in 1 minute. You count
  respirations by observing the persons chest rise
  (inhalation, or taking the breath in) and fall
  (exhalation, or letting the breath out)

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Respirations

• In adults, the normal respiratory rate is between
  15 and 20 breaths/min. In infants and children,
  the normal respiratory rate is faster.
• The respiratory rhythm. This is the regularity
  with which the person breathes. In normal
  breathing, the breaths are evenly spaced.
• The respiratory depth. A persons respirations
  may be described as deep or shallow.

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Respirations

• Dyspnea is the medical term for breathing that
  is dif? cult or seems like it takes a lot of
  effort.

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Blood Pressure

• Blood pressure measures the pressure of the
  circulating blood on the walls of the arteries.
  Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood into
  the arteries. The pressure of the blood against
  the walls of the arteries when the heart pumps is
  called the systolic pressure. The pressure of the
  blood against the walls when the heart relaxes is
  called the diastolic pressure. The systolic
  pressure is always higher pressure readings. An
  aneroid manometer shows the than the diastolic
  pressure

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Blood Pressure

• Hypotension is the word used to describe low
  blood pressure, and hypertension is the word used
  to describe high blood pressure. A blood pressure
  that remains high over time can damage the
  arteries and place strain on the heart.
• Equipment used to measure blood pressure
• stethoscope and a sphygmomanometer. The
  sphygmomanometer has three parts a cuff that is
  placed around the persons arm, a bulb that is
  squeezed to ? ll the cuff with air, and a
  manometer, a gauge for measuring the blood
  pressure

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Blood Pressure

• around the persons arm, a bulb that is squeezed
  to ? ll the cuff with air, and a manometer, a
  gauge for measuring the blood pressure

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Blood Pressure
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WEIGHT AND HEIGHT

• Although they are not vital signs, weight and
  height measurements also provide important
  information about a persons health status

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Review
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