Vital Signs Skills Return Demonstration

apedrique · Mar 8, 2015

Thank you BuckyBadger. Thats is good to know. I would have guessed it would be similar to many other health related instances. That is very helpful. i guess I pray to have the particular gentleman with a strong pulse in lab :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

canigraduate · Mar 8, 2015

Mr. Murse
There's an enormous amount of information in my textbook and notes. Some people use this website to assist one another on certain tasks to help save eachother time seeing as we all know how much work and time is spent in school. This way we can focus on the many other assignments we have. In addition, the vital signs skills check off could be performed in many different ways, so what is the problem getting insight from others who are further along in the program. The last thing i will address with you is how sad i find it that some people use this site as a way to help one another in a positive manner then there are those like yourself who feel entitled to give your unhelpful negative opinions. For what? Isnt it a waste of your time? Do you have nothing better to do? Clearly that isnt the case... thank you for your help anyhow.

Bwahaahaahaaa!! That was the nicest "negative" you will ever find on here. Mr. Murse is one of our nicer posters.

I think the intent was to redirect you to your book so you will have the specific numbers/information that is required by your instructor.

You will find that many of the posters on here expect you to look things up BEFORE you ask for help so that you are learning effectively and meeting the requirements for YOUR program.

As far as your original post goes, the other posters have answered your questions pretty clearly. I haven't seen your question about "Verify most recent health care provider's order" get addressed, so here are my thoughts on that:

When you are given your assessment scenario, you need to verify the orders you are given. When I was in nursing school, that meant that we had to read the scenario and check the "chart" for actual orders. Sometimes they slipped us orders that didn't match our scenario to make sure we were checking.

Good luck!

springchick1, ADN, RN · Mar 8, 2015

If you are having a hard time hearing blood pressure, by a cuff (if you don't have one) and practice on yourself over and over again. Find friends and family that will let you practice as well. Practice until you can hear the quiet ones with no problem.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Mar 8, 2015

Also, another tip to follow what your instructor/textbook tells you instead of an anonymous forum.

Where I work, the "normal BP" is 140/90---anything higher than that will flag in the system and require investigation. The clinic where I am a patient has a "flag high" of 160/100 before it triggers. HUGE variations

psu_213, BSN, RN · Mar 8, 2015

The last thing i will address with you is how sad i find it that some people use this site as a way to help one another in a positive manner then there are those like yourself who feel entitled to give your unhelpful negative opinions. For what? Isnt it a waste of your time? Do you have nothing better to do? Clearly that isnt the case... thank you for your help anyhow.

I think he was trying to be helpful. You textbook is your best resource for these normal values (and the book is going to be the best resources for other normal part of the assessment, normal lab values, etc.). I would be willing to wager that there is some sort of table in your book that list the normal ranges for basic VS. Plus, you said you have the normals down. If it is outside the normal range, it is, by definition, abnormal.

oceanblue52 · Mar 8, 2015

As far as "verifying orders," you are probably either going to have actual orders to read from and you'll have to verify that the physician has actually ordered them or you'll just verbally tell patient. In the first case, you would skim the order and then show the instructor where the physician has requested vital signs. It seems silly with something routine like vitals, but your instructors want you to get in the habit of checking orders. When you get to doing more invasive procedures its important to make sure you know what is specifically requested and double check that it's on the right patient. Think of it similar to the 5 med rights.

If you arent given any physical orders orders, you will just say something like, "Hi, my name is such and such, the physician has asked that I check your vitals every 4 hours," or (with a foley CPE) "the physician has ordered a foley catheter to be placed for your procedure." It's a just a competency to get you familiar with looking at orders, implementing them, and then communicating that to the patient. You don't just walk into a room and slap a blood pressure cuff on the person, you introduce yourself and explain what you are about to do to put the patient at ease. That is probably what your instructor is getting at.

As far as ranges, just write down the what the normals are on an index card, carry it around with you and study it so you know all the numbers come test time. Some things just need to be memorized, no shortcuts available.

Finally talk to your instructors to clarify what pain assessment they want you to use. PQRSTU and WILDA are the most common. Each letter is just a mnemonic referring to a question you will ask to probe deeper into what kind of pain the patient is experiencing.

CPE's seem really stressful, but once you are checked off you'll breathe a sigh of relief and realize that you were stressed out over nothing! Vital signs are one of those things that will become second nature to you. Good luck!

apedrique · Mar 8, 2015

Thanks everyone!

Mr. Murse · Mar 12, 2015

Mr. Murse
There's an enormous amount of information in my textbook and notes. Some people use this website to assist one another on certain tasks to help save eachother time seeing as we all know how much work and time is spent in school. This way we can focus on the many other assignments we have. In addition, the vital signs skills check off could be performed in many different ways, so what is the problem getting insight from others who are further along in the program. The last thing i will address with you is how sad i find it that some people use this site as a way to help one another in a positive manner then there are those like yourself who feel entitled to give your unhelpful negative opinions. For what? Isnt it a waste of your time? Do you have nothing better to do? Clearly that isnt the case... thank you for your help anyhow.

I don't think I was being negative at all. I was simply stating that you have all the answers right there with you and you could have probably found them in less time than it took to wait for someone on here to reply. I was genuinely wondering if for some reason you had not been given the info and didn't have a book. No need to be sensitive about it.

apedrique · Mar 24, 2015

I passed! Tomorrow is dressing changes! Thanks everyone. It is very scary but afterwards you really get a sense of confidence. When i was finished i was like, "why in the world was i freaking out... i know all this!" Haha

Mr. Murse.... maybe sensitive. I just felt like you were being condescending but this is the internet/text so I probably misinterpreted.

For dressing change, we can apply our sterile gloves before setting up our sterile field or afterwards. What have yall found works best for yall? I think im going to go with after.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Mar 24, 2015

If I'm reading your latest question correctly, there is only one way to set up a sterile field. When you put your gloves on is generally not optional. I set up a dozen sterile fields a day--there is only one point when I can put my sterile gloves on

apedrique · Mar 24, 2015

Our professor said we can lay out the paper holding the 1 inch edges without gloves and dump tray upside on top... then place gloves on or... open tray put gloves on (before laying out supplies)... being careful about what is touched that point on.