O2 Sats..bad if 100%..?

Nurses General Nursing

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I was in a chest clinic yesterday and the consultant told me that if a patient has oxygen saturations of 100% on air and they are not in an anxious state then it is too high. It should be 98 or 99 % max and 100% shows that the person is not breathing properly. Has anyone else heard this?

Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.

Nope, never. Just my experience.

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Remember, the pulse oximeter is a calculated measurement and not exact. To actually have 100% of your HGB bound by O2 would be a feat on room air. We see 100% readings frequently; however, if I remember correctly, you are looking at a plus or minus 1-2% margin of error on a properly functioning pulse oximeter.

As I understand, part of the PU-92 concept for some airway algorithms takes this margin of error into consideration.

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Specializes in LTC, Nursing Management, WCC.

Anyhow, check out this site if you want to know more about the O2 sats. I think I covered them all but I might have been a bit unclear.

DaMale Nurse (truly a nerdy one)

You covered it all by cutting and pasting from someone's document. So really you would not be a bit unclear but the orginal authors would be.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.

I see 100% all the time in the ped's department. When they are at 100%, it usually never stays there but rather fluctuates a few %.

Side note and kind of funny -- before I went to bed last night, I looked at this thread real quick but decided I would reply in the morning. Well last night I had the most odd dream about a young boy who had a O2 sat of 100% and we had to do weird interventions to lower it. I kind of chuckled when I woke up this morning.

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Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.
Lol, you've never seen a 100%??? I find that hard to believe.

I guess the pulse ox's I have dealt with have always been wrong...from the ambulance, to the ED, to L&D, to my ICU today. Strange for them all to be so wrong....:uhoh3:

I guess I'm charting incorrectly as my pt had a pulse ox of 100% all day yesterday.

Just to clarify, I didn't say your oximeter isn't correct, I said I've been told if it reads 100% it isn't calibrated correctly, I am only relaying info given to me from an anesthetist,(I personally don't know myself), and just that I've never seen it. I would love to get some feedback from that specialty on this thread ...

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