This essay aims to provide a discussion of vital signs and how they are relevant to contemporary nursing practice. This is done by;
• Discussing what vital signs are and when are they used in practice.
• Why are vital signs relevant to contemporary nursing practice?
• How the skills are performed with the consideration of the NMC (2008) code of conduct.
• Discussing potential risk issues associated with using automated blood pressure/pulse machine in relation to contemporary practice.
• Summary of the main points discussed and stating my an interpretation on its relevancy to contemporary professional nursing practice
Vital signs are the observation of the body’s vital functions and show an evidence of the person’s health condition. It is used as an assessment by the nurses to assess the patient’s blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration (Ackbarally,2012). This occurs initially on admission or when they arrive at different health care settings such as; transfer from hospital to a nursing home, during an emergency situation to help observe the persons condition, before and after operation, before, during and after treatment, when the patients general condition alters and also according to the local or national data gathering (Endacott et al , 2009)
Nurses form an important role in influencing patient safety from everyday tasks and gradually obtaining the patient vital signs have increasingly been seen as a chore instead of collecting clinical evidence. This then creates an extreme danger to patient’s as irregular monitoring of vital signs prevented early detection of deterioration in a patient’s condition, which postpones transfer to intensive care unit ( Kyriacos U et al 2011; Boulanger, 2009). Due to this, a...
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There are events, subtle or otherwise, leading up to a critical change in health status. As nurses at the bedside, we must have strategies and protocols implemented in order to monitor changes in vital signs and trends leading towards a cardiac, respiratory, or neurologic event. In a hospital setting, patients are monitored for changes in condition, whether it be improvement or deterioration, allowing clinicians to decide the course of action to follow in their care.
Williams, M. (1998). In C.M. Hudak, B.M. Gallo, and P. Gonce Morton. (Eds.) (1998). Critical Care Nursing. A Holistic Approach. 7th Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven Publishers.
Nurses have many different roles which include promoting health, preventing illness, and the daily care of patients in all different kinds of settings. It is important for nurses to treat the whole patient and address not only the acute concern but all factors that contribute to the patients’ health and well-being. We are each responsible for our health, and it is the role of the nurse to help their patients be accountable for their health. Nurses have also to ensure
The six standards of practice are very important. Under the first standard, assessment, the nurse evaluates health information related to the patient. This information could be a health issue such as asthma, or a psychological issue such as anxiety that is necessary knowledge needed before treatment can begin. Once this is accomplished the second standard, diagnosis, begins. Under this standard the nurse takes the information gained from the assessment and utilizes it to derive a diagnosis of the individual. The third standard, outcomes identification, has
Hypertension is one of the most prevalent disorders in the US, affecting about 1 in 3 adults. Since uncontrolled blood pressure has been linked to consequences such as stroke, congestive heart failure, and chronic kidney disease, it poses considerable risk for a significant portion of the population. According to the American Heart Association, hypertension was responsible for 46,284,000 ambulatory care visits in 2007; and it is estimated that this condition will be either directly or indirectly responsible for $76.6 billion in health care costs in 2010.9 The morbidity and mortality associated with uncontrolled hypertension make initiatives to improve the quality of care in this area important in any outpatient practice.
It is essential that the practice be dependent and based on nursing fundamentals. These concepts are the foundation of the profession, which have been proven to be tried-and-true. They offer guidance and assistance for those in the nursing profession, by way of providing knowledge and ideas. The fundamentals that are taught in modern day nursing stress the importance of individual needs, both in a psychological and physiological fashion. As society continues to evolve, so will the standards of this particular
The staff will now have to rely heavily on technology to monitor delicate vital signs and feeding schedules as well as charting assessments. The large panoramic view of a room has been replaced with walls and a nurse watching a com...
... joy Mrs. L got from seeing her cat. Health in this scenario is shown mostly notably when Mrs. L got relief from Morphine and stated she knew she was going to die but felt “ok for now”. Health in this case was measured by an improvement in pain and not an absence of illness. Finally, nursing in this scenario is exemplified in many ways. In the paragraph above I begin by ensuring the patient’s confidentiality. Mrs. L was placed at the center of care. I collaborated with other nurses and all those in the environment to assure the best care possible. Through direct care, teaching and advocacy I delivered the exact type of care I would wish for myself, or someone I loved, if I were in Mrs. L’s place.
(patient) and the Clinical Nurse Manager both parties agreed that the author could proceed. All information will be kept confidential and no names will appear on this assignment that could be traced back to the client or hospital. As a student nurse this will comply with the guidelines set out by An Bord Altranais (2009). All nurses should be able to account for the care they give, why they give the care and also an evaluation of the care they have given. Barett et al (2009) maintain that this is a core part of care planning.The Department of Health and Children (2001) has shown its commitment to organising care plans and the importance of them as was evident in the 'Primary Care A new Direction' health strategy.This identified the importance of discharge planning and and the development of individualised care plans following discharge. This assignment will cover a full assessment of a person whose care the author has managed in the clinical setting. Based on this assessment the author will compile a care plan focusing on two key nursing diagnoses derived from the nursing assessment. The author will list all nursing diagnosis related to this patient and give a rationale for each.
The nurse must develop a trusting therapeutic relationship with the patient in order to act in the many roles of nursing.
Treatment for the client presenting to the APN diagnosed with hypertension, the first efforts should be focused on education. The patient should be informed of what current JNC 8 guidelines for the diagnosis of hypertension are. This will help the patient identify that he or she in fact has a problem and his blood pressure is abnormal. Further education should also include anticipated progression of the disease and complications from prolonged hypertension to help the patient understand the effects hypertension have on the body and risk of development of end-organ damage. Since hypertension is a silent disease, often void of symptoms, the patient must understand fully the implications of the disease and necessity to control the blood pressure.
Respiratory assessment is a significant aspect of nursing practice. According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, respiratory rate is the best indicator of an ill patient and it is the first observation that will demonstrate a problem or deterioration in condition (Philip, Richardson, & Cohen, 2013). When a respiratory assessment performed effectively on a patient, it can result in upholding patient’s comfort and independence in progress of symptom management. Studies have acknowledged that in spite of the importance of the respiratory rate (RR) it is documented rarely than the other vital signs in the hospital settings (Parkes, 2011). This essay will highlight the importance of respiratory assessment and discuss why nurses
McIntyre, M. & McDonald, C. (2014). Nursing Philosophies, Theories, Concepts, Frameworks, and Models. In Koizer, B., Erb, G., Breman, A., Snyder, S., Buck, M., Yiu, L., & Stamler, L. (Eds.), Fundamentals of Canadian nursing (3rd ed.). (pp.59-74). Toronto, Canada: Pearson.
D. standing near her room, breathing sharply. While asked what has just happened, she answered, ‘I feel dizzy and can faint!’ Mrs. D. then explained that she rose up from her chair in the television room and felt lightheaded. I decided to bring her to the room hoping she would feel less dizziness if she could sit. After consultation with my mentor and third year unit nursing student, I decided to perform measurement of her vital signs. Since only electronic sphygmomanometer was available for me that time, I had to use it for my procedure. Gladly, I discovered that I have already used such equipment in my previous nursing practice. Using the standard sized calf, I found that her blood pressure was 135/85, respirations were 16, and her pulse was 96 beats per minute (bpm). However, I decided to recheck the pulse manually, founding that it was irregular (78 bpm). The patient stated that she felt better after rest. Immediately after the incident I made a decision to explore carefully the medical chart of Mrs. D., along with her nursing care plan. That helped me to discover multiple medical diagnoses influencing her
This reflection of vital signs will go into discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of each vital sign and the importance of each of them. Vital signs should be assessed many different times such as on admission to a health care facility, before and after something substantial has happened to the patient such as surgery and so forth (ref inter). I learned to assess blood pressure (BP), pulse (P), temperature (T) and respiration (R) and I will reflect and discuss which aspects were more difficult and ways to improve on them. While pulse, respiration and temperature were fairly easy to become skilled at, it was blood pressure which was a bit more difficult to understand.