Nursing Vital Signs Review and Episode 63

Welcome to Episode 63

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Use of simple OR checklist reduces surgery complications

Texas bills designed to improve nursing shortage

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Tip of the Week– Vital Signs Review

How many nurses and nursing students look at vital signs in a key part of the patient assessment process. I’m often told by others a single set of “normal” vital signs (pulse, respiration, blood pressure, temp) and then I’m told the patient is stable. How do you know by just these vital signs?

A single set of vital signs does not a stable patient make!

This week is a look at the basic vital signs including some assessment tips and guidelines. The review will cover the “Big 3 Vital signs” – Pulse, Respiration, and Blood Pressure. These are the big three because sometimes, that’s all many think of as vital signs. In the next episode in this series, I’ll address some of the fallacies associated with that line of thought and explain how to make the total picture of patient presentation your focus.

Followed by the big 3, I’ll be looking at the final three in the vital signs six part process. Beyond pulse, respiration, and blood pressure patients should also be regularly assessed for temperature, pulse ox, and pain. Of these, pulse ox is the most overused and misunderstood, while pain is the most important for patient care and yet the least used. We’ll examine that paradox in a future episode here as well.

Normal vital signs values can be found at the links below as well as some other excellent student resources at our forum partner AllNurses.com. If you are looking for an answer in the realm of nursing, you will find it from the hundreds of thousands of visitors and members at AllNurses.com.

MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Vital signs

A Practical Guide to Clinical Medicine

University of Manitoba Student Nurse Lab

Vital Signs from AllNurses.com Forums

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