vital signs

Medical term Patient Intake and Vitals

Measurements of essential body functions: temperature, pulse (heart rate), respiration (breathing rate) and blood pressure.

Sources

Vital signs (Medical Encyclopedia) · MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine

Free practice questions that use vital signs

General Patient Care, question 3After saving, an MA realizes she entered one patient's vital signs in another patient's EHR chart. What should she do?

blood pressureThe force of blood against the artery walls, written as systolic over diastolic in mm Hg.
pulseThe rhythmic expansion of an artery with each heartbeat, used to count heart rate.
respirationOne breath: an inhalation and an exhalation; respirations are counted per minute.
tachycardiaHeart rate faster than 100 beats per minute in an adult.
tachypneaBreathing faster than normal; in adults, more than 20 breaths per minute.
tympanic thermometerA thermometer that reads temperature in the ear canal with infrared.
visual acuitySharpness of vision.