Essay on Importance of Vital Signs

The purpose of arterial pressure and the pulse lab is to determine the effect of posture and exercise on systolic and diastolic pressure and the heart rate. And also in order to find the differences in the reading taken under these condition compares to the baseline reading. The Sphygmomanometer and stethoscope are used to measure the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, counting the beat on the radial artery will give the reading for pulse rate and by using the lab scribe software and IWX214, the blood pressure will be measured. In the heart, the aorta and the carotid arteries have baroreceptors and the chemoreceptors that identify the changes in arterial pressure and the changes in

Normal temperature for the human body is about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This is about 37

2.2 Body temperature is a measurement of the body’s ability to generate or get rid of excess heat. When the body gets to hot the blood vessels near the skin dilate to carry the excess heat to your skins surface. You will also begin to sweat as the sweat evaporates this helps cool you body. When the body becomes too cold our blood vessels contract, this reduces the blood flow to the skins surface to conserve body heat. As we become colder the body can start an involuntary response called shivering. This is where the muscles of the body rapidly contract this extra muscle activity helps generate more heat. Normal body temperature is around 37°C this is an average of normal body temperatures. Your temperature may actually be 0.6°C above or below 37°C depending on the outside temperature or you level of activity.

First pain is an everyday experiences that is expressed through the use of language and is then legitimized (Waddie, 1996). If a patient as a history of depression or chronic pain they have pain every day and the concept is used to help explain their pain. As nurse we use the concept of pain to find a base line of the pain and to assess new pain. In surgical patients they may have multiple types of pain from the incision, emotional, and history. The concept educates the nurse of the different form that pain can present itself. Pain can also guide how we treat the patient. Emotional pain would not be treated with the “so know pain pills”, but with talking or listening to patient. Concept of pain also address the different form of patient and how the nurse and patient response to it. If a patient is having somatic pain from an incision the nurse could react by applying heat or ice. Pain is what the patient says it is.

Because body temperature is usually lower in older adults, a nursing assistant must know the “normals” for not only an adult who is younger than sixty-five years of age, but also an older adult who is older than sixty-five years of age. For an adult under the age of sixty-five, a normal oral temperature ranges from 97.6 to 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit; a normal rectal from 98.6 to 100.6; a normal axillary from 95.3 to 98.4; and a normal tympanic from 96.6 to 99.7 (American National Red Cross, 2013). For an adult over the age of sixty-five, these “normals” are slightly lower. A normal oral temperature ranges from 96.4 to 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit; a normal rectal from 97.1 to 99.2; a normal axillary from 96.0 to 97.4; and a normal tympanic from 96.4 to 99.5 (American National Red Cross, 2013). Additionally, because older adults’ arteries have lost some of their elasticity and cannot constrict quickly, and because this may lead to orthostatic hypertension, it is important for nursing assistants and nurses to measure older adults’ blood pressures both when they are in a seated or supine position as well as when they are standing up (American National Red Cross,

“Pain is much more than a physical sensation caused by a specific stimulus. An individual's perception of pain has important affective (emotional), cognitive, behavioral, and sensory components that are shaped by past experience, culture, and situational factors. The nature of the stimulus for pain can be physical, psychological, or a combination of both.” (Potter, Perry, Stockert, Hall, & Peterson, 2014 p. 141) As stated by Potter et al, the different natures of pain are dealt with differently depending on many factors. Knowing this, treating pain can be very difficult as there is no single or clear cut way of measuring it; “Even though the assessment and treatment of pain is a universally important health care issue,

1. It is important that we take into consideration, areas other than physical pain and have an holistic approach. Pain is whatever the person who is suffering it feels it to be. Physical pain can be experienced as a result of disease or injury, or some other form of bodily distress. For example childbirth. Although not associated with injury or disease, but can be an extremely painful experience. Pain can also be social, emotional and spiritual as well as just physical.

Normal blood pressure readings should be lower than 120/80. People who have blood pressure readings higher than normal should see a doctor and take action on how to lower their blood pressure. Blood pressure is highly dangerous and some instances result in death if remains untreated. Preventive methods should be taken in order to escape developing high blood pressure. Medication can be given to lower blood pressure if needed. Small changes in ones diet and lifestyle can have an enormous positive affect on ones blood pressure such as not

To most people, pain is a nuisance, but to others pain controls their life. The feeling discomforts us in ways that can sometimes seem almost imaginable. These feelings can lead to many different side effects if not dealt with or diagnosed. These effects can include depression, anxiety, and incredible amount of stress. The truth about pain is that it is vital to our existence. Without the nervous system responding to pain, we would have no idea if we were touching a hot stove, being stuck by a porcupine’s needles, or something else that could leave a lasting effect upon our bodies without us even knowing anything about it.

Blood pressure (BP) as defined by Marieb and Hoehan (as cited in Peate & Wild, 2012) is the pressure that the blood puts on the blood vessel walls as the blood travels around the body controlled by the heart. The strength of the blood pushing on the blood vessel wall is the BP reading. According

With the information found with what a patient’s blood pressure is, it helps health care providers understand the state of the patient’s health. A patient’s blood pressure measures the amount of pressure exerted on arterial walls in the patient’s heart. Blood pressure is measured in two numbers: systolic and diastolic. Systolic, the number listed first in blood pressure readings, reports the amount of force exerted by the blood into the arteries during ventricular contraction.

Vital signs are a fundamental component of nursing care and indicate the body’s ability to maintain blood flow, regulate temperature and regulate oxygenate the body tissue. Taking vital signs are essential in revealing any sudden changes in the body, which could potentially indicate clinical deterioration of the patient.

(Marieb and Hoehn, 2010, p 703) defined Blood Pressure (BP) as ‘the force per unit area exerted on a vessel wall by the contained blood, and is expressed in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg)’. BP is still one of the essential and widely used assessment tools in healthcare settings. Nurses generally record the arterial BP which is the forced exerted blood that flows through the arteries, to establish a baseline and to determine any risk factors. BP

Vital signs are the observation of the body’s vital functions and show an evidence of the person’s health

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage” (1979). Pain is actually the culprit behind warranting a visit to a physician office for many people (Besson, 1999). Notoriously unpleasant, pain could also pose a threat as both a psychological and economic burden (Phillips, 2006). Sometimes pain does happen without any damage of tissue or any likely diseased state. The reasons for such pain are poorly understood and the term used to describe such type of pain is “psychogenic pain”. Also, the loss of productivity and daily activity due to pain is also significant. Pain engulfs a trillion dollars of GDP for lost work time and disability payments (Melnikova, 2010). Untreated pain not only impacts a person suffering from pain but also impacts their whole family. A person’s quality of life is negatively impacted by pain and it diminishes their ability to concentrate, work, exercise, socialize, perform daily routines, and sleep. All of these negative impacts ultimately lead to much more severe behavioral effects such as depression, aggression, mood alterations, isolation, and loss of self-esteem, which pose a great threat to human society.