I work in a critical care area, we have an intensivist who blew his lid one day when he saw some of the nurses were doing axillary temps and insisted that they ALL be temporal or oral. This just baffles me because EVERY time I take a temporal temp (swipe across the forehead and tap behind the ear) it's around 96F...how can this be more accurate than an axillary? Times where I would use an axillary vs. oral (previously) would have been if the pt were just drinking coffee/water but I feel like no matter what, the temporal is never accurate.
What do your hospital/units do?
Thanks! :)