Importance of Vital Signs Essay Example
Importance of Vital Signs Essay Example

Importance of Vital Signs Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 3 (566 words)
  • Published: January 17, 2017
  • Type: Essay
View Entire Sample
Text preview

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. The normal body temperature of a person should range from 97. 8 to 99 degrees F. A person’s body temperature can be taken in any of these ways; orally (mouth), rectally (rectum), axillary (armpit), by ear, and by skin.

Body temperature can be abnormal due to fever (high temperature) or hypothermia (low temperature). A fever is indicated when the body temperature rises above 98. 6 degrees orally or 99. 8. Hypothermia is a dro

...

p in body temperature below 95 degrees. Measuring pulse is another important vital sign. Pulse is the pressure of the blood felt against the wall of an artery as the heart contracts and relaxes, beats. When measuring a person’s pulse there is three things you should always look at. Rate, rhythm, and volume.

The rate refers to the number of beats per minute, rhythm refers to regularity, and volume refers to strength. The normal pulse for a healthy adult ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Pulse rate can increase with exercise, illness, injury, and emotions. Anyone can easily check their pulse by taking the first and second fingertip and pressing firmly but gently on the arteries until you feel a pulse. These arteries are located on the side of the lower neck, at the wrist, or on the inside o

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

the elbow. Another vital sign is respiration which measures the number of breaths a person takes per minute.

This is usually measured when a patient is at rest and it simply just consists of counting the number of breaths they take for a whole minute by counting the number of times their chest rises. These rates can increase with fever, illness, and with other medical conditions. It is important to note if the patient has any difficulty breathing. Measuring blood pressure is extremely important as well. It is the measurement of the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls. A blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope is what are used to measure this.

While taking you blood pressure two numbers are recorded; Systolic pressure and Diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure is the higher number that refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart contracts and pumps blood through the body. Diastolic pressure is the lower number and refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart is at rest and is filling with blood. Having high blood pressure can increase the risk of coronary heart disease (i. e. heart attack, stroke). Pain is the last vital sign but it important because it reveals a lot about a person’s health.

It not only affects a person’s physical health but their mental health as well. Things like mood, activity, sleep, hygiene, appetite, and the ability to focus and concentrate. Experiencing pain varies between everyone because what may be excruciating to someone may seem moderate to the other. Doctors may ask questions like Where is the pain? What kind of pain

is it: sharp, dull, aching, throbbing, shooting burning, etc.? When did it start? What makes it worse? What helps ease it? , and How does it affect your life?

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New