Wuz good my People?
I hope ya’ll have been well the past couple weeks. Ya boy has been busy, but I have been enjoying every minute of it. Work is GREAT and I got to spend some time wit the fam, so things have been good. This week I wanted to put ya’ll up on what is normal when you go to the Doc and they take your “Vital Signs”. Vital sign norms are different for everyone and have different ranges with age. I’m gonna hook you up with a short breakdown of what each one is for the average adult and what we are lookin for when we check them. Ya’ll ready? Here we go!
Vital Signs
Blood Pressure (BP) – 120/80 is “perfect” pressure.
The top number (120), is called Systolic Pressure (Sis-tall-ik) – The amount of pressure yo in your arteries when yo heart squeezes. The bottom number (80), is called Diastolic (Dye-uh-stall-ik) – The amount of pressure in yo arteries when yo heart is relaxed.
What i am lookin for when I take yo blood pressure is, if it is high like (160\100), or low like (88/40). This is no good yo! If you get your BP taken and you are chillin and your BP is around 140/90, or 90/65, please talk to your Doc to get some help with that. The high BP is an example of hypertension or High BP. The low BP is an example of hypotension or low BP. Your BP tells me how your heart is doin. Below are some words we use to describe the different pressure ranges.
Hypertension (Hi-per-ten-shun) – High blood pressure (160\100)
Hypotension (Hi-po-ten-shun) – Low blood pressure (88/40)
Respiration (RR) – 12 – 20 is “normal”
Respiration is number of breathes a person takes in a minute when they are chillin. The number of breathes will change the more active you are. If you are out running around the hood then you should expect to breathe faster. If you are in couch potato mode then between 12-20 is normal. If a person is in pain or they are sick they tend to breathe faster. Below are some words we use to describe different respiratory rate.
Tachypnea (Tack-ip- nee-uh) Fast breathing (20 and above)
Bradypnea (Brad-ip-nee-uh) Slow breathing (12 and below)
Temperature (Temp) 96.8-100.3 °F is “normal”
There is a lot different opinions about this, but the point is if your temperature is high then you are more than likely sick. If your temperature stays high like 101.9-103.1 then you need to see a Doc. A temp that stays high can mean infection and may need some antibiotics. If you are just chillin and your temp is between 96.8-100.3 °F then you in the normal range.
Heart Rate or Pulse – 60 – 100 is “normal”
This is another way for me to check how your heart is doin too. A person’s pulse can tell me if their heart beat is not normal, and tell me if it is too fast, or to slow. There are a number of reasons these numbers can go up and down, but when you are at the house watchin TV 60 to 100 is considered normal. Below are the words we use to describe the different heart rates.
Tachycardia (tacky-card-e-uh) – fast heart rate (100 and above)
Bradycardia (Bray-dee-card-e uh) – slow heart rate (60 and below)
Pain
This is something is different for everyone! It is important not to place judgement or downplay someone’s pain. If a person is in pain, it causes all kinds off problems in the body. A major issue is healing. If a person is in pain their body is doing everything it can to combat that pain instead of healing where it is damaged. An example is if a person has a surgery and they are in pain after the surgery, it is important to control the pain to help heal the body after the surgery. Remember ya’ll, everyone deals with pain differently and it is important not to judge but to help those in pain.
The Story
I was talkin with another nurse at the nurse’s station when I noticed it was midnight. At midnight I am supposed to go check the vital signs on all my patients. I go to check on my patient, and when I come out of the room the nurse I was talking with asked me to help with a patient they where taking care of. I told the nurse “no sweat, let’s get it”. So, I go in the room to help the nurse with the patient. The patient needed some help scooting up in the bed. This happens all the time on my unit. Now there is a number of sheets and blankets on the beds and something called a “chuck” (the blue pad) that goes on every bed on the unit. Now, when we help boost patients up in the bed the blankets and chuck tend to get bunched up under the patient and needs to be adjusted. So, we boosted the patient up in the bed, and as usual, the blankets and chuck got bunched up under the patient. The nurse I was helping said, “I will help the patient turn if you can adjust the blankets and chuck for me.” Before I could get a word out of my mouth the patient said, “It’s not called a chuck, I call it a dick and I can adjust it myself.” I could not help but to bust out laughing. I finished helping the nurse get the patient comfortable and left the room busting a gut. This is yet another reason why I love my job; people are funny and they be sayin some crazy stuff.
I hope this was some help to ya’ll and you have a great week. I am gonna try to do a video post the next time and see how that goes. Have a great week ya’ll and I will holla at you soon!
Peace,
MaddHadda aka The Hood Nurse