This is an explanation of the importance of physiological measurements, record keeping and consent.
Looks specifically at:
Blood pressure
Pulse rate
Respiratory rate
And also tells you how to accurately take each measurement professionally!
Gaining consent is an essential part of being a healthcare practitioner, it ensures that patients are
shown respect, and their dignity is upheld. In regard to anatomy and physiology physiological
measurements are extremely important and very common. They are things such as heart rate, blood
pressure and temperature Gaining consent before taking these measurements is vital and can be as
simple as saying to a patient “I am going to take your blood pressure now is that okay?” and them
saying yes. This is voluntary consent that has been given verbally. Before gaining consent and taking
any measurements it is also important to explain how the measurement is taken and what it is used
for so that the patient has all the information before consenting. This enables patients to not only
give voluntary consent but also informed consent.
In some circumstances a patient may not have the capacity to give consent to physiological
measurements. For example, an individual who is in a coma will not be able to give consent to
having their pulse checked. Instead, a practitioner will just go ahead and do so in line with
‘treatment in the best interest documentation’.
(C3: 4.3)
Within health and social care, it is essential that physiological measurements are recorded regularly
and accurately, this is crucial as it demonstrates the competency of the health care professionals and
the standards of care they are providing. There is lots of different reasons why accurate and timely
recording is necessary, four most important reasons are:
Safeguarding: By recording individual's physiological measurements, it promotes health and well-
being, this is essential to the safeguarding of all individuals. It promotes health and well-being by
preventing individuals' health conditions worsening.
Identifies any changes in health: By recording physiological measurements it allows healthcare
professionals to identify any changes in health quickly. If they are done regularly, say once an hour
and recorded accurately then if there is a big difference between two of the measurements it is easy
to identify that a patient could have something serious going on due to the change. This prevents
patients deteriorating.
Assisting diagnosis: Physiological measurements are very beneficial in aiding diagnosis of different
medical conditions. For example, when taking a pulse, it could help identify and diagnose
cardiovascular conditions through noticing an irregular pulse rate. British heart foundation (2023)
stated that “An irregular pulse could be a sign of an ariythmia (an abnormal heart rhythm) such as
atrial fibrillation.” This confirms just how useful physiological measurements are as by taking a
simple pulse it could aid diagnosis of the previously mentioned condition therefore it is essential to
accurately record them so that nothing that could be a possible symptom is overlooked.
Care plan: Care plans are extremely important in health and social care and ensure that each
individual patient is receiving care that is specific to them. The timely and accurate recording is
important to this as first of all it may be a requirement of a patient’s care plan and practitioners
must follow this. Secondly it allows other practitioners to see what the last measurements were as it
will all be a part of the patient’s care plan.
, (B3: 4.4)
Alongside recording physiological measurements, it is also important to accurately report any
measurements that are a cause for concern in the correct manner. Firstly, healthcare practitioners
need to have knowledge on what the normal measurements are and also what is considered
abnormal. Knowing and recognising abnormalities is crucial to be able to report them in a timely
manner.
Every healthcare organisation has policies and procedures in place on the reporting of physiological
measurements, this is so any cause for concern is accurately reported through the correct lines of
reporting. A healthcare practitioner has a duty of care and responsibility to their patients to follow
these and act appropriately. The procedures will outline who is the appropriate person for lines of
reporting. It will be someone who is more senior such as a specialist, consultant or senior nurse.
Lines of reporting are essential to ensure that any worsening condition of a patient is treated
accordingly.
Another way of accurately reporting physiological measurements is to accurately complete and
maintain all patient records. There is a well-known track and trigger system that is frequently used
by NHS organisations to record and report physiological measurements. (NICE) National institute for
health and care excellence (2020) stated that “The National early warning score is a system for
scoring the physiological measurements that are routinely recorded at a patient's bedside.” This
system ensures the accurate recording and maintenance of records which is scored to identify if
there are any abnormalities which then are responded too and reported quickly and appropriately.
NICE (2020) also stated that “this is so that patients in acute and general inpatient wards whose
condition is deteriorating are identified and get the appropriate clinical response.” Meaning that the
physiological measurements are accurately reported. Another reason maintaining and completing
records helps to accurately report concerns is they are evidence that whoever is the line of reporting
such as consultants can reference to accurately treat the abnormalities.
Finally, to accurately report physiological measurements it is important that a patient confidentiality
is upheld, and all reporting is also in line with confidentiality policies and procedures. This means not
sharing information with the incorrect people and following lines of reporting, Physiological
Measurements LTD (2019) stated that this means “ we will not disclose information to family,
friends or colleagues about any medical matters at all unless we have your consent to do so.”
This confirms that it is essential as part of accurately reporting abnormalities to follow confidentiality
policies and procedures and only report to the people that are the us correct line of reporting, unless
the patient has given consent to say otherwise.
(A1:3.1)
There are many things that can influence and change the results of physiological measurements like
different health conditions and illnesses. Stress is a major factor that can change results of
physiological measurements. Stress is something that arises when we feel overwhelmed or unable to
cope and is usually something that is mainly mental, this can be caused by basic life events or
something major. Mind (2023) defines stress as “Stress is how we react when we feel under
pressure or threatened, it usually happens when we are in a situation that we don't feel we can
manage or control.” Stress can majorly influence and change the results of physiological
measurements and some people may experience health problems due to their stress. Blain, T (2022)
stated that “sometimes, a person doesn't realize how stressed they are until it begins to expose
itself in the form of physiological symptoms.” Meaning that some people’s stress can be so intense
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