silly little problem....

[artistnurse]

I've been learning the very basics of assessment...i have this annoying habit of forgetting the pulse number during my assessment for pulse and respirations.....we do it for 30 secs: count the pulse, then continue counting for respirations. By the time i'm done measuring respiration, ive forgotten the pulse...dork!...what's the deal??!

[Bree124, BSN, RN]

Eh, I did that the first few times, as well. I put my fingers on the radial artery, then instead of taking the pulse, I counted respirations first. Then I just jotted it down quick with my other hand, and went on to take the pulse second. Worked fine until I was a little more used to it and wasn't so distracted.

[dollphyn]

Eh, I did that the first few times, as well. I put my fingers on the radial artery, then instead of taking the pulse, I counted respirations first. Then I just jotted it down quick with my other hand, and went on to take the pulse second. Worked fine until I was a little more used to it and wasn't so distracted.

I did a similar thing in nursing school, but backwards. I would count the pulse first, write it down, then while I was still acting like I was counting the pulse, I would count the respirations. The patient didn't know the difference and I didn't forget the numbers because I had previously written down the pulse.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

survivingschool. . .one of the things i sometimes dis was a mental count that included all these numbers at the same time so i didn't have to think about them. i have always been a daydreamer. i have no problem making up little songs and rhymes in my mind to help remember numbers and the best part is no one knows i'm doing it. so, for example, if i get a pulse of 72 and i'm counting respirations i might be standing there counting "72 going once, 72 going twice. . .72 for the 12th time" by the time i get to the end of counting the patient's respirations, the pulse of 72 is pretty well ingrained in my mind. another habit i had was taking a piece of paper toweling from the bathroom as i walked into the rooms and using it to write vs on. i always had a pen in my hair that i could grab in a second (i had long hair wrapped up on my head and always had a pen stuck in it). i guess you hadn't heard that nurses are notorious for having bits of paper with all kinds of little notes they've jotted on them shoved in their pockets. that's a fact. it's also true that the more you can commit to paper takes a big load off your memory and makes it less likely for you to forget to do something. as you will find, we nurses have enough stuff to remember and the less we clutter our minds with and keep things organized the better off we are.

[june2009]

I agree with Daytonite. I write down my vs immediately after I get each one. I have found that I'm also getting better at remembering the longer I've been in nursing. I make a report sheet keep it on a clipboard and write my info down on that as soon as I can.

[hunydew2262]

I always write down the numbers. I can't get my kids names straight most days, let alone remember the numbers!

I write down any information I'm going to need to transfer to a chart, just to cover my orifice.

[LMRN10]

I think a lot of people have that issue!! There is nothing wrong with wriging it down before starting the next step...just til you get the hang of it, or for good!!! Do what you need to do so the info is correct!

[artistnurse]

survivingschool. . .one of the things i sometimes dis was a mental count that included all these numbers at the same time so i didn't have to think about them. i have always been a daydreamer. i have no problem making up little songs and rhymes in my mind to help remember numbers and the best part is no one knows i'm doing it. so, for example, if i get a pulse of 72 and i'm counting respirations i might be standing there counting "72 going once, 72 going twice. . .72 for the 12th time" by the time i get to the end of counting the patient's respirations, the pulse of 72 is pretty well ingrained in my mind. another habit i had was taking a piece of paper toweling from the bathroom as i walked into the rooms and using it to write vs on. i always had a pen in my hair that i could grab in a second (i had long hair wrapped up on my head and always had a pen stuck in it). i guess you hadn't heard that nurses are notorious for having bits of paper with all kinds of little notes they've jotted on them shoved in their pockets. that's a fact. it's also true that the more you can commit to paper takes a big load off your memory and makes it less likely for you to forget to do something. as you will find, we nurses have enough stuff to remember and the less we clutter our minds with and keep things organized the better off we are.

for skills checkoffs we arent allowed to write it down, but your idea with repeating the number while continuing with respirations are excellent. thanks.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

I'm a good one to forget my vital signs as soon as I take them too...uggh.

I've learned over 20+ years to grab something to write on, I've used tissues (clean ones), paper towels, anything thats able to be written on if I forget to bring in a piece of paper.

I've written vitals and other info (blood sugar numbers etc) on my gloves (learned that trick when I was an EMT) and my scub pants have had plenty of vitals and other info written on them (I don't suggest writting on your scrubs though..I would use a washable kids marker like the ones Crayola makes but grabbed my sharpie marker a few times instead of the washable one and well, needless to say, those vitals and other info were forever on the scrubs..)

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

Usually I start with respirations, but then I remember that the little number is respirations....and pulse is usually easier to get....