Vital Signs Research Paper

For young and old, a trip to the doctors means seeing different machines to take vital signs. Vital signs are something that is measure such as temperature, pulse rate, respirations, and blood pressure. Vital signs are all measured using different tools in a specific way. For some vital signs, different tools are used to measure just that one. Vital signs are taken in a certain order and documented in that order. The order goes, temperature, pulse, respirations, and last blood pressure. Starting with the temperature, there is a tool called a tympanic digital ear thermometer. This is a way of measuring the body temperature inside the ear. It is the quickest way. The tympanic digital thermometer is a hand held device with a “window” showing …show more content…
Before a blood pressure can be taken, a quality stethoscope and an appropriately sized blood pressure cuff is needed. A stethoscope has two pieces that go in the ears to listen and long tube like piece of rubber, with a chest piece on the bottom. When choosing the right size blood pressure cuff, a person needs to determine if they are taking it on an adult, child, or a bigger person. The first step is to make sure the patient is relaxed for about five minutes. The patient should sit upright with their upper arm positioned so it is level with their heart and feet flat on the floor. Remove excess clothing from the area that might affect the reading. Make sure to have the right size cuff. Locate the brachial pulse in the arm. The brachial pulse is located in the bend of the elbow. Position the blood pressure cuff so that the word “Artery” on the cuff lines up with the brachial artery. Wrap the cuff snugly around the arm about two inches about the brachial pulse. On the same arm, palpate (feel around) to locate the strongest pulse and place the chest piece over it. Place the ear pieces in ears after the chest piece is on the arm to refrain from loud noises in the ear. Connected to the cuff, will be a tube connected to the sphygmomanometer. A sphygmomanometer measures the blood pressure. It looks like a speedometer in a car. There will be another tube that comes out of the cuff with a bulb at the end. Begin to squeeze the bulb to inflate the cuff. To determine what number to pump it up to, find out the patients previous blood pressure. While inflating the cuff, listen to the pulse sounds. The first pulse sound heard is the systolic reading. This occurrence of rhythmic sounds heard is blood flowing through the artery. The systolic number is the top number of a blood pressure. While listening, on the bulb there is a little dial to turn to release the air in the