Vital Signs...

So I learned about vital signs this week. Such fun things they are. They take forever!!!

Vital signs consist of temperature, pulse, respirations, blood pressure, O2 saturation, and pain.

Normal temperature range for an adult is 96.8 - 100.4

Normal pulse range for an adult is 60-100 beats per min

Normal respirations for an adult is 12-20 breaths per min. So you can never tell a person that you are taking their resps because they will change their breathing pattern. Try it!

Blood pressure for an adult needs to be less than 120 over less than 80. The sound that a nurse is listening for while taking blood pressure is called Karkaroff sounds. (Reminds me of Harry Potter). It's really hard to hear the sounds with lots of talking going on. Some peoples Karkaroff sounds are really loud and some are very soft. Sometimes a nurse can't even here the sounds. NEVER look at the needle bobbing for a blood pressure reading.

Oxygen saturation (which means, for all those out there who don't know what the heck I am talking about, how much O2 is attached to the hemoglobin the in the blood) needs to be 90% or higher. Preferably in the high 90s.

Pain 0-10 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain a person has ever felt. A fellow nursing student ask a guy what his pain was for the day and he answered 6. When she asked why he was in such pain he told her that his girlfriend just broke up with him. I thought that would have hurt a lot more!

Ya so that is all I have for now. sorry it's so boring, but that is all I have learned thus far.