Vital Signs Medical Science 1

Lesson Objectives Understand Learn How to: What vitals are and how to document them Learn How to: Take Pulse Rate Take Respiration Rate Take Blood Pressure

What are vital signs? Outward signs of what is going on inside of the body Pulse Respirations Blood Pressure Skin Color Temperature Pupils

Pulse Heart pumps blood through blood vessels Blood passes through arteries in waves Surges of blood through the arteries can be felt as pulses The number of pulses felt in a minute is equal to the number of heart beats in a minute Two Components: Rate and Quality Rate=Beats/min Quality: How it feels – strong, weak, thready…

Pulse Locations Radial Pulse Carotid Pulse Brachial Pulse

Average Pulse Ranges Age Beats/min 14+ 60-100 11-14 60-105 6-10 70-110 14+ 60-100 11-14 60-105 6-10 70-110 … … Newborn 120-160

Respirations Respiration = The act of breathing Measured in breaths per min 2 actions of respiration are: inspiration and exhalation Inspiration = breath in Exhalation = breath out 1 breath = 1 inspiration & 1 exhalation

Respiration Components Rate and Quality (just like pulse) Rate = Breaths/min Quality = normal, shallow, labored, noisy What do you think, normal?

Average Respiration Ranges Age Breaths/min 14+ 12-20 11-14 12-20 6-10 15-30 … … Newborn 30-50

Blood Pressure Definition: The force of blood against the walls of the blood vessels When the heart contracts and forces blood in the arteries – Systolic Pressure When the heart is relaxed, the remaining pressures in the arteries – Diastolic Pressure

Blood Pressure Presented in the form: Systolic Diastolic Average Blood pressure = 120/80

How to Take Blood Pressure Position the blood pressure cuff Arrow over brachial artery Put stethoscope properly into your ears Place the head of the stethoscope on the brachial artery, below the BP cuff Pump the BP cuff to 160 mmHG Slowly release pressure by turning value counterclockwise 1st sound heard = systolic pressure Last sound heard = diastolic pressure

Blood Pressure by Palpation Very similar to previous procedure, but no stethoscope is used Instead, place your hand on the radial pulse Pump BP cuff to 160 mmHG Slowly release the value First pulse felt = Systolic pressure Diastolic pressure cannot be measured this way Documented: (Systolic)/Palp.

Now it’s your turn. Take the pulse, respiration rate, blood pressure by auscultation (stethoscope), and blood pressure by palpation of 10 students. Record the values you obtain for these measurements, while maintaining the privacy of the client.