Vital SIgns

Question 1

what is atrial fibrillation. why is this bad?

Answer 1

rapid, continuous, chaotic activity of atrial conduction electrical activity via the AV node. the ventricles don’t have enough time to fill before being contracted and get less blood ejected. 2nd contraction may not result in palpable pusle wave

Question 2

auscultation of the heart rate at the apex can reveal

Answer 2

apical-radial pulse deficit

Question 3

how do you take heart rate

Answer 3

count for 15 seconds then x4

Question 4

what is normal range for adults? what is tachycardia? what is bradycardia?
children?

Answer 4

normal pulse is 50-60 for older and runners and 90-100
tachycardia is over 100
and bradycardia is less than 50

children usually under 10 have higher than 100 heart rate

Question 5

when may the peripheral pulse rate understimate the heart rate?

Answer 5

in certain arrhythmias like atrial fibrilation where small quantities of blood are periodcally ejected from the heart

Question 6

what is a regular rhythm?
regular irregular?
irregular irregular?
which one is atrial fibrillation?

Answer 6

regular: every pulse wave occurs at expected time.
regular irregular: pulse wave occurs in irregular beat, but this pattern is regular

irregular irregular: unpredicatble and irregular . this describes atrial fibrillaiton

Question 7

what is normal respiration rate for an adult?

what is brady and tachypnea

children?

Answer 7

normal respiration rate for one minute should not be greater than 20.

tachypnea: over 20/min
bradynpea: less than 10/minute

children break at higher RR
newborns: 30-60/min
early childhood 20-40/min
late childhood 15-25/min

Question 8

when is diastolic blood pressure measured in adults and children?

Answer 8

adults: when korotkoff sound disappears
chidlren: when korotkoff appears

Question 9

what error could give a false low blood pressure. vice versea for what error could give false high blood pressure?

Answer 9

too large a cuff; too small a cuff would give false high bp.

Question 10

normal values of blood pressure for adults and children? systolic?

Answer 10

systolic for adults is less than 120
diastolic for adults is less than 80

systolic for children: 50 at birth, 60 mmHg a 1 month, 95 at 1 year and 100 at 6 years

Question 11

what is pulse pressure

what indicates widened or narrowed pusle pressure?

Answer 11

BP systolic minus BP diastolic
if pulse pressure value is greater than 50% of BP systolic this is widened
if pusle pressure is less than 25% of BP systolic, then is narrowed.