Body Temperature Assessment & Regulation

• Assessing vital signs (cardinal signs) is a routine medical procedure to determine the body's internal functions.
• Vital signs include body temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure.

Vital Signs

• Physical signs that tell data to determine a person's current state of health.
• They indicate whether an individual is alive with indicators such as temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate (TPR) and blood pressure (BP).

Body Temperature

• Balance between heat gain and heat loss in the body.
• It uses degrees, either Celsius or Fahrenheit.
• Normal range: 36.5 – 37.5 °C
• Core temperature is the temperature of deep tissues such as the cranium, thorax, abdominal and pelvic cavities.
• The hypothalamus is the part of the brain responsible for homeostasis where it maintains a constant internal environment in the body.

Purposes for measuring body temperature

• To establish baseline data for subsequent evaluation.
• To identify whether the core body temperature is within normal range.
• To determine changes in core TB in response to specific therapies like antipyretic medication, immunosuppressive drugs or invasive procedures.
• To monitor clients who risk imbalanced TB, infection and diagnosis of infection.

Types of Thermometers

• Mercury in glass: Oral thermometers have long, slender tips and rectal thermometers have short, rounded tips.
• Electronic Thermometer: Can read rapidly in less than 60 seconds and is most accurate if placed in the sublingual pocket of the mouth.
• Infrared Thermometer: Measures infrared heat coming from inside the ear in 2 seconds or less.

Types of Thermometers: Glass and Mercury

• Contains glass tube with mercury inside.
• When placed under the tongue, the heat causes mercury to rise inside the tube.

Types of Thermometers: Electronic Thermometers

• Provides readings in less than 60 seconds.
• Are most accurate if the sensor is on the end of the thermometer that touches the body parts.

Types of Thermometers: Tympanic Membrane Thermometer

• Measures the temperature inside the ear.
• The reading are obtained in 2 seconds or less.
• It can read the infrared heat from inside the ear.
• Is especially appropriate for infants and young children.

Body Temperature Measurement Sites

• Temperature sites: oral, rectal, axillary, tympanicmembrane, temporal artery, esophageal, pulmonary artery.
• Oral: the most common.
• Axilla: mostly used in infants and children.
• Rectal: second choice.
• Tympanic Membrane: the most favorable site.
• Temporal: specially for the pediatric group.

Temperature Variations

• Normal oral temperature is 98.6°F (37°C).
• Rectal is 0.5°F (0.3°C)to 1°F(0.6°C)higher than the temperature of oral
• An ear (tympamic)temperature is 0.5°F(0.3°C)to 1°F(0.6°C)higher than the temperature of oral.

Sites for Taking the Temperature

• Oral: accessible and convenient, but inaccurate if hot or cold fluid is ingested.
• Rectal: reliable measurement, but is inconvenient, plus difficult if the patient cannot turn.
• Axillary: safe and non-invasive.
• Tympanic Membrane: quickly accessible, it very fast reflects core temperature, but contains risk if the membrane is too far inserted.
• Temporal Artery: Safe and non-invasive.

Factors Affecting Body Temperature

• Age: Infants are greatly influenced by temperature and children are more labile than adults.

• Diurnal Variations: body temperature normally changes throughout the day and varying as much as 1.0 °C between early morning and late afternoon.

• Exercise: Changes in temperature.

• Hormones: Women usually experience more hormone fluctuations than men.

• Stress: Epinephrine and norepinephrine increase activity and heat production.

• Fever or Pyrexia: is an increase in body TB that exceeds normally from daily variation.

• Afebrile means without fever, and febrile means with fever

• Hypothermia: means a decrease in core TB below the low limits of normal body TB

• Hyperthermia: is elevated TB since TB regulation fails due to the body producing, or absorbing more heat than it dissipates.

Pulse

• A surge of blood generated by the contraction of the left ventricle in the whole body at the same time.
• Generally, represents the stroke volume output and the amount of blood that enters the arteries with each ventricular contraction.
• Cardiac Output: the volume of blood pumped into the arteries by the heart that equals Stroke Volume (SV) times heart rate (HR) per minute.
• SV: the amount of blood ejected during each cardiac contraction

Pulse Rate

• The number of the heart's beats per minute.
• Babies to age 1 BPM: 100-160
• Children ages 1 to 10 BPM: 60-140
• Children age 10+ and adults BPM: 60-100
• Athletes BPM: 40-60
• Pulse: Stretching occurs in the arteries with each heartbeat. Normal contraction is 60-100 times per minute per adult; children contract even faster.

Areas of Pulse

• Peripheral Pulse: Located in the periphery of the body.
• Apical Pulse: Located at the apex of the heart.

Sites for Taking Pulse

• Brachial
• Radial
• Carotid
• Femoral
• Popliteal
• Dorsalis Pedis (top of foot)
• Posterior Tibal (behind the ankle)

Factors Affecting Pulse Rate

• Age
• Sex: After puberty, the man's pulse rate is slightly lower than the female's.
• Exercise
• Fever: Pulse rate increases when metabolic rate increases.
• Medications
• Hemorrhage: Loss of blood increases pulse rate.
• Stress
• Position Changes
• Heart Disease
• Some medications decrease pulse rate, and others can increase it.
• Hypovelemia (Loss of blood): Increases the pulse rate.
• In response to stress, stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system increases the heart's activity.
• Pathology: Conditions that impair oxygenation and disease can alter the pulse rate.
• Position: When sitting or standing, results in transient blood pressure and heart rate.

Pulse Rate Anomalies

• Tachycardia- A heart rate over 100 BPM in adult.
• Bradycardia- A heart rate less than 60 BPM in adult.

Characteristics of Pulse

• Pulse rate.
• Pulse rhythm (pattern of beats and intervals between them).
• Pulse volume (strength or amplitude).
• Synqurenicity

Pulse Volume

• Also refers to pulse strength or amplitude.
• Refers to the force of blood with each heat beat.

Pulse Oximetry

• Noninvasive way to estimate arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO2).
• Normal range: 85-100%; a measurement of < 70% is life threatening.
• Detects hypoxemia before clinical signs or symptoms.
• Involves using a sensor, photodetector and pule oximeter unit.

Factors affecting Pulse Oximetry Accuracy

• Hemoglobin levels.
• Circulation
• Activity
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Explore different types of thermometers, their appropriate usage, and factors influencing body temperature. Understand the role of vital signs and the importance of accurate temperature measurement in medical contexts. Learn about core temperature regulation and its clinical implications.