Glossary
Vital signs, often abbreviated as VS, are a group of the four to six most important medical signs that indicate the status of the body's vital (life-sustaining) functions. These measurements are taken to help assess the general physical health of a person, give clues to possible diseases, and show progress toward recovery. The normal ranges for a person's vital signs vary with age, weight, gender, and overall health.
There are four primary vital signs: body temperature, blood pressure, pulse (heart rate), and respiratory rate. The fifth and sixth vital signs are oxygen saturation and pain, respectively. These are often measured in a medical context, either in a professional setting such as a clinic or hospital, during an emergency medical situation, or even at home. Body temperature, the first vital sign, is usually measured to check for fever or monitor the effectiveness of fever-reducing medicine. It can be measured in several ways, including oral, rectal, ear, armpit, and forehead.
Normal body temperature can vary depending on the person, the time of day, and the weather, but it's usually around 98.6°F or 37°C.Blood pressure, the second vital sign, measures the force of blood in the circulatory system. It is presented as two numbers, systolic over diastolic. The systolic number represents the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats, and the diastolic number represents the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats. Normal blood pressure for adults is defined as a systolic pressure below 120 and a diastolic pressure below 80. Pulse or heart rate, the third vital sign, is the number of times your heart beats per minute. The normal pulse for healthy adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Factors such as age, fitness level, and presence of medical conditions can affect the normal range.
Respiratory rate, the fourth vital sign, is the number of breaths a person takes per minute. The rate is usually measured when a person is at rest and simply involves counting the number of breaths for one minute by counting how many times the chest rises. Respiration rates may increase with fever, illness, or other medical conditions. Oxygen saturation, the fifth vital sign, is a measure of how much oxygen the blood is carrying as a percentage of the maximum it can carry. This is usually measured using a pulse oximeter device. For healthy individuals, normal oxygen saturation levels will be around 95–100%. Pain, the sixth vital sign, is often considered subjective but is still important to assess. It is generally measured by asking the patient to rate their pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain imaginable.
Monitoring these vital signs can be crucial in medical assessments as they can provide critical information about the physiological status of the individual. Changes in the vital signs can often indicate medical problems and help determine the best course of action for treatment. For instance, a drop in blood pressure could indicate blood loss, certain types of poisonings, or other medical conditions. An increase in respiratory rate might suggest a lung disease or metabolic acidosis. In conclusion, vital signs are fundamental to modern medicine. They provide a quick, efficient way of checking the status of a patient's essential body functions. They are the first step in a medical examination and often dictate the course of subsequent examinations. As such, understanding and correctly interpreting vital signs is a crucial skill in nursing and medicine.