Nursing Vital Signs

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2.7 Monitoring physiological measurements it´s important to make sure the individual health status and also necessary after surgery, as patients in intensive care units require continuous monitoring, and sometimes have medications that requires physical measurements taken. These are measurements we take to ensure that they are functioning in the way they are supposed to. When we carry out physiological measurements, such as measuring temperature, pulse and respiration, we are monitoring for signs of abnormality. Then be able to draw conclusions about the health status of the individual and any treatments they may

When I arrive to the Trauma ICU 4800 unit, all of the nurses were already being followed by other students. The nurse in charge had me follow several different nurses, so I was able to observed several different patient cases. The first patient had received a triple bypass open-heart surgery. The patient had received a creatinine blood test. The patient had a dialysis machine next to them, which was used to function as the kidneys since the patient’s kidneys were not functioning correctly. Also, the patient’s body temperature was lowered from having a taken cool liquids so the nurses were keeping him warm with a bair hugger, which was a machine that helped regulate the patient's’ body temperatures.

Nursing sensitive indicators reflect the structure, process and outcomes of nursing care. The structure of nursing care is indicated by many factors such as supply of staff, education level and quality of care provided. Process indicators measure aspects of nursing care such as assessment, intervention, and RN job satisfaction. Patient outcomes that are determined to be nursing sensitive are those that improve if there is a greater quantity or quality of nursing care (Nursing world, 2013). In 1999, the American Nursing Association recognized a total of 10 indicators that apply to hospital based nursing care (Americansentinel.edu, 2017). Indicator such as pressure ulcers, patient falls and nosocomial infections are recognized in this list and are considered preventable with proper nursing action. Knowledge of these indicators could have assisted the nurses in several ways involving this case study involving Mr. J.

Prior to starting medical treatment, I would like to obtain an ECG first to make sure that your chest pain is not related to any heart disease. GERD is most likely the cause of noncardiac chest pain, but it is important for patient safety that we get an ECG to make sure that we don’t overlook the possibility that you are having any cardiac symptoms (Buttaro et al., 2017).

The knowledge of nursing sensitive indicator can be helpful in providing the patient care which meets the quality and ethical standards. Nursing sensitive indicators rely on evidence to take patient care decisions (Patrician, 2010). According to Patrician (2010), Evidence Based Nursing is the use of personal expertise and research to take decisions on patient care. In case of Mr. J, there is a clear lack of evidence based nursing. Mr. J was kept in restraint without considering that Mr. J was not trying to get out of bed by himself. When the pressure ulcer was identified, the nurse

health, blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, blood sugar, and urine can be monitored self, and also can

These discoveries prompted change and allowed the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), to set standards to reduce unnecessary detriment to patients. Many tools were introduced to assist in the consistency and accuracy of observations of patients’ physiological conditions. ViEWS (VitalPac Early Warning Score) is a standardized and high-tech scoring system that helps recognize and respond to deteriorating patients. It is the basis of the newest warning system, appropriately named National Early Warning System or NEWS (Featherstone, Prytherch, Schmidt & Smith, 2010).

On august 13, 2016 I was assigned to follow one of the ICU Nurse. It was a very calm day. She had two patient one was more critical than the other. Both patients were on the ventilator because they had to be intubated the night before. The lady is obese and had gastric bypass surgery two years ago and suffering from severe sleep apnea, but the patient is non-compliance to the CPAP treatment. That was her second time being intubated. She was admitted for seizure monitoring because she was constantly having seizures the day before while she was at home. Due to the fact that she did not want to wear her CPAP machine while in the hospital, after pain medication was administered she was found unresponsive, that was the reason for her intubation the night before. Patient was on intermittent suctioning, she has sinus tachycardia . I had the opportunity to observe some of her daily care. The patient was on fentanyl but when the Dr. try to wean her out of the ventilator she stop breathing, therefore, the DR. discontinue the fentanyl temporarily in other to retest her later.

Therefore, a formative assessment was performed in the third week of placement without any concern pass or fail results (Gopee, 2015 p.174). However, the vital signs assessment tool (VSAT) was created by the author of this report (Appendix A) based on evidence based practice (EBP) in order to meet the clinical learning environment (CLE) needs as suggested by Bradshaw et al., (2012). Although, the STN feels happy to perform the assessment, nevertheless, the STN requires support since this is the first time to perform VS on a real patient. Consequently, a mentor checklist was used (Appendix B) to create CLE (RCN, 2007), to reduce the level of anxiety also to enhance learning experience (Anderson, 2011) and to ensure the STN feels being part of

As a nursing practitioner, it is essential that one understands the sensitive nursing indicators. Medical professionals use the sensitive nursing indicators as a way for measuring and assessing the factors that may be affecting the quality of patient care. A nurse should know the best way of giving a patient the highest quality of care; we can also use the sensitive nursing indicators in reviewing the patient satisfaction and evaluate patient care. The concepts have been in existence since the early nursing days of the likes of Florence Nightingale. Nightingale introduced the evaluation of nursing care when she began measuring the quality of patient care using statistical methods in generating reports.

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.

Vital signs are measurements of the body’s most basic functions. They are very useful in detecting and monitoring medical problems. There are five main types of vital signs which are temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and pain. They can be measured in a medical setting, at home, at the site of a medical emergency, or elsewhere.

This then helps to emphasise the importance of vital signs in contemporary nursing practice as ‘better monitoring of patients implies better care’ for this reason it is the nurses responsibility to ensure accuracy of the data, interpret the vital signs findings and to report any abnormalities (Lynn, 2008 ; Kyriacos et al, 2011 p.3225). This also builds the nurses core skill set and offers the earliest information of a patient at risk of deterioration, which helps to prevent deaths or further health complications (Boulanger, 2009).

Urgency of acute care varies depending on the situation but can range to anything from emergency surgeries, to injuries, chronic illnesses, and also for the recovery of those procedures. Majority of the patients in acute care settings are critically ill. Nursing responsibilities in acute care settings are vital to patient’s recovery due to the front line position nurses play as well as the wide variety of tasks carried out. Assessments are made during every encounter the nurse has with the patient along with monitoring the patient’s progress. Nurses are responsible for recognizing symptoms the patient may be experiencing due to illness or injury and whether they fall in the spectrum of normal reactions. Vital signs are measured routinely and can be indicators of the patient’s current status. When vitals are questioned diagnostic tests can be arranged to further assess possible comorbidities the patient may have. Care plans are made to plan interventions the health care team can take to help patients through challenges they face, both physical and mental. Nurses administer medications as well as first aid as needed. They are responsible for maintaining special equipment patients may require including monitors and ventilators are well.