HNN112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Vital Signs, Tachycardia, Hypothermia
Document Summary
Identify possible nursing intervention to assist patients with abnormal vital signs. Definitions of vital signs (cid:862)vital sig(cid:374)(cid:863) is a (cid:272)ore (cid:374)ursi(cid:374)g fu(cid:374)(cid:272)tio(cid:374) a(cid:374)d key to the re(cid:272)og(cid:374)itio(cid:374) of patie(cid:374)t deterioration. Vital signs provide important information about the relationship between body systems. Vital signs that are (cid:449)ithi(cid:374) (cid:374)or(cid:373)al li(cid:373)its refle(cid:272)t a perso(cid:374)"s physiologi(cid:272)al (cid:449)ell(cid:271)ei(cid:374)g, (cid:449)hereas abnormal vital signs may be an early warning of clinical deterioration. Traditionally nurses measure the five vital signs: temperature. Body temperature reflects the balance between the heat produced and the heat lost from the body and is measured in degree celsius ( c ) There are two kinds of body temperature: core temperature and surface temperature. Core temperature: is the relatively constant temperature of the deep tissue of the body, such as the abdominal cavity and pelvic cavity. Surface temperature: is the temperature of the skin, the subcutaneous tissue and fat: pulse.
