HNN112 Week 4

Assessing and Managing Patient Function and Risk:

The Deteriorating Patient Vital signs

We do want you to remember, that 'normal vital signs' are different for each individual patient,
and we need to take a lot of information into account when we are making a judgement on a
patient's status.

One of the resources provided to the students is the Observation and
Response Chart we do want you to be aware that this chart is about your
escalation of patient care, when/if their vital signs fall into those designated ranges, however as
a nurse, we may be concerned about an vital sign finding prior to escalation.

In addition to the skill of actually taking the vital sign is the thinking that accompanies it.

So, for example, while a normal temperature range may be 36 to 38 degrees, we would expect that if you found a
patient's temperature to be 37.8, that you would recognise that this is on the upper side of normal,
check if they had too many blankets, or had just had a cup of tea, and follow up with a further
check a little while later to see if the temperature is increasing or normalising.

If a respiratory rate was 20 (the upper side of normal), you investigate further to see if the patient has pain,
or is showing signs of other breathing problems or has other vital sign abnormalities. This
demonstrates critical thinking, and most importantly, keeps patients safe.

It is important that you as students have a sense of average normal vital signs the resources
currently have mixed information. We would like the you to learn the following parameters.
These are for adults. As you continue in the course, and from your reading of this weeks
materials, you will learn that vital signs in infants and children are a slightly different.

Respiratory rate: 12-20 bpm
Heart rate: 60-100 bpm
Oxygen saturation: 95% - 100%
Systolic blood pressure: 100-130 mm/Hg
Diastolic pressure: 60-90 mm/Hg
Temperature: 36 38 degrees Celsius


Please see below (next page) for an example of documentation on an Observation Chart: