Counting Respirations

[emptyboxcars]

I am not in my first semester, but I'm still having trouble counting respirations while having distractions. I still have to act like I'm counting the pulse "for a full minute" and count respirations for the second half of that time. Anyone have any tips on how to do this another way? Whenever I try to do it while I'm using the Vitals machine, I find I don't have a full 30 seconds to observe for respirations and so I can never make it work out. Any other time I try it, I find myself getting distracted. I have a hard time looking natural while counting respirations/doing something else for a full 30 seconds. Thanks.

[LynM75]

"if you want to cause a stir some peaceable afternoon, count actual resting resps (which are often in the 12-14 range, or less) and chart them. people get into a major tizzy. you can really make them crazy if you report resps of 10, because that seems to be the level when everyone panics about opioids. i am here to tell you that my perfectly healthy dh, age >65, has a resting resp rate of around 10 all the time. when i do my meditation, i count slow fifty breaths and then check the clock for how long it takes me. it's usually between 10 and 12 minutes, so that's about 4-5 bpm, and i am no model of physical fitness and do not pass out at this rate. :d"

grntea- you are so right on this one... i have been reemed out by rn's who have asked me " the resps are 12? or 14? all the other ones were 18-20!" i'm sorry if i actually count respirations on patients and somehow you think this these are very low, but you may go and assess the patient yourself. i am a cna (16 yrs) and and rn student, and my own resps are at 12/ min. hmm...