Vital Signs
● Normal Adult ranges of- T, P, BP, R, O2 saturation.
○ T: 36-38C (96.8-100.4F)
○ P- 60-100
○ BP- <120/<80
○ R- 12-20
○ Oxygen saturation- 95-100%
● Causes for alterations in each – T, P, BP, R and O2 saturation.
○ Temperature
■ Hormones
■ Environmental temperature
■ Activity
■ Infection
■ Eating hot/cold foods/drinks before an oral temperature
■ Smoking
■ Age
■ Stress/anxiety
■ Circadian rhythm
○ Pulse
■ Stress/anxiety
■ Activity
■ Medications
■ Temperature
■ Pain
■ Hormones
■ Circadian rhythm
■ Age
■ Hemorrhage (blood loss causes the heart to overcompensate)
■ Environment
■ Change of position
■ Anemia (low RBC count causes the heart to overcompensate for the loss
of O2 and iron)
■ Core body temperature
○ Blood Pressure
■ Age
■ Stress
■ Medications
■ Hydration
■ Body position
, ■ Comorbidities
■ Alcohol and tobacco use
■ Activity level
■ Circadian rhythm
■ Ethnicity (African American descent tend to have a higher BP)
■ Male (higher)
■ Family history
○ Respirations
■ Activity
■ Stress/anxiety
■ Injury
■ Infection
■ Air quality
■ Medications
■ Heart issues
■ Hypoxemia
■ Age
■ Smoking
■ Body position
■ Brain trauma
○ Oxygen saturation
■ Respiratory infection
■ COPD
■ Asthma
■ Anemia
■ Heart disease
■ Pulmonary embolism
■ Increased respirations
● Age and activity level considerations – understand normal variations that occur with
aging and alterations you may expect based on lifestyle
○ Temperature
■ Level doesn’t change as much but it becomes harder for the body to
control its temperature (older)
■ Higher temperature (infants)
○ Pulse
■ Can become slower or weaken (older)
■ Higher and more rapid (infants)
○ Blood Pressure
■ Can increase as you age (older)
■ Generally lower in both systolic and diastolic values (infants)
○ Respirations
■ Only really changes if there are underlying problems such as COPD or
Asthma (older)
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