Assessing Vital Signs and Epilepsy

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering clinical vital signs assessment, thermoregulation, hemodynamics, respiratory physiology, and epilepsy classifications and first aid protocols.

Assessment (Nursing Process)

The first step of the clinical practice framework involving the collection of the patient's vital signs, health history ($\text{Hx}$), and symptoms.

Diagnosis & Analysis (Nursing Process)

The second step of the nursing process, focused on organizing and interpreting the clinical data gathered during the initial assessment.

Planning (Nursing Process)

The third step of the nursing process in which short-term and long-term goals are established for the patient's clinical care and treatment.

Implementation (Nursing Process)

The fourth step of the nursing process where the specific care plan developed in the planning phase is executed.

Evaluation (Nursing Process)

The fifth step of the nursing process involving the reassessment of the patient's clinical response and the subsequent amendment of the care plan.

Thermoregulation

The physiological and behavioral mechanisms that maintain thermal balance between heat produced and heat lost, governed by the formula: $\text{Heat produced} - \text{Heat lost} = \text{Body temp}$.

Anterior Hypothalamus

The hypothalamic center responsible for regulating heat loss by stimulating sweating, vasodilation of blood vessels, inhibition of heat production, and blood redistribution to surface vessels.

Posterior Hypothalamus

The hypothalamic center responsible for regulating heat production by controlling metabolic activity and involuntary shivering responses to generate and conserve body warmth.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

The baseline quantity of heat produced by the body at complete rest; increased up to $+100\%$ by excess thyroid hormone or reduced by $-50\%$ in its absence, and typically higher in men due to testosterone.

Non-Shivering Thermogenesis

The primary heat production mechanism in infants who lack the ability to shiver, functioning via the direct metabolic consumption of specialized vascular tissue.

Radiation (Heat Loss)

The transfer of thermal energy from one surface to another without direct contact, accounting for heat loss from approximately $85\%$ of the body's surface area.

Conduction (Heat Loss)

The transfer of heat from one surface or object to another through direct physical contact, such as when applying ice packs or cool baths.

Convection (Heat Loss)

The transfer of heat away from the body via air movement, which accelerates when ambient air moves across slightly moistened skin.

Diaphoresis

Visible perspiration secreted by sweat glands under anterior hypothalamic control to promote evaporative heat loss; accounts for up to $80\%$ of heat dissipated during exercise.

Nadir (Body Temperature)

The lowest point reached during the predictable 24-hour circadian temperature cycle, typically occurring between $1\text{:}00\,\text{AM}$ and $4\text{:}00\,\text{AM}$.

Pyrexia

An elevated body temperature (fever) resulting from pyrogens resetting the hypothalamic set point, which enhances host defense by raising white blood cells, inducing interferon, and decreasing blood iron to suppress bacterial proliferation.

Chill Phase (Pyrexia)

The stage of fever development lasting several hours where the patient experiences chills, shivering, and cold sensations while the body produces and conserves heat to reach the newly elevated hypothalamic set point.

Plateau Phase (Pyrexia)

The period of pyrexia during which core temperature stabilizes at the newly elevated hypothalamic set point, leaving the patient feeling warm and dry.

Hyperthermia

An elevated core body temperature caused by impaired heat-loss mechanisms or structural hypothalamic damage; distinguished from fever by having no change in the hypothalamic set point.

Heatstroke

A severe medical emergency where core temperature reaches $40^{\circ}\text{C}$ ($104^{\circ}\text{F}$) due to thermoregulatory failure, presenting with hot dry skin, delirium, tachycardia, hypotension, and potential permanent neurological injury.

Hypothermia

Core temperature depression caused by prolonged cold exposure that overwhelms metabolic heat production, categorized as mild ($34^{\circ}\text{C}\text{ to }36^{\circ}\text{C}$), moderate ($30^{\circ}\text{C}\text{ to }34^{\circ}\text{C}$), or severe ($<30^{\circ}\text{C}$).

Pulse

The quantifiable number of arterial pulsing sensations felt in $1\,\text{minute}$; routinely palpated at the radial artery or at the carotid artery during trauma scenarios.

Cardiac Output (CO)

The total volume of blood pumped through the systemic circulation in $1\,\text{minute}$, calculated as $\text{Heart Rate (HR)} \times \text{Stroke Volume (SV)}$ and averaging approximately $5{,}000\,\text{mL/min}$ in adults.

Stroke Volume (SV)

The specific volume of blood ejected into the aorta during each individual ventricular contraction of the cardiac cycle.

Tachycardia

An abnormally elevated resting heart rate exceeding $100\,\text{bpm}$ in an adult.

Bradycardia

An abnormally slow resting heart rate falling below $60\,\text{bpm}$ in an adult.

Dysrhythmia

An alteration in the regular cardiac rhythm caused by an early, late, or missed heartbeat interrupting normal beat-to-beat intervals.

Systolic Pressure

The peak arterial pressure exerted by pulsing blood during ventricular contraction, with an expected normal range between $90\,\text{mmHg}$ and $120\,\text{mmHg}$.

Diastolic Pressure

The baseline minimal pressure constantly exerted against arterial walls while the cardiac ventricles relax between contractions, targeting under $80\,\text{mmHg}$.

Pulse Pressure

The mathematical difference between the measured systolic and diastolic arterial pressures: $\text{Systolic} - \text{Diastolic}$, measured in $\text{mmHg}$.

Hypertension

A chronic clinical elevation of blood pressure exceeding $140/90\,\text{mmHg}$, categorized into Stage 1 ($140\text{--}159 / 90\text{--}99\,\text{mmHg}$), Stage 2 ($>160 / >100\,\text{mmHg}$), and Hypertensive Emergency ($>180 / >120\,\text{mmHg}$).

Orthostatic Hypotension

A condition characterized by a sharp drop in blood pressure and presyncope symptoms when moving from a recumbent position to sitting or standing; assessed across supine, sitting, and standing positions spaced by $1\text{ to }3\,\text{minutes}$.

Ventilation

The physical process of moving gases into ($\text{O}_2$) and out ($\text{CO}_2$) of the lungs, evaluated clinically by measuring respiratory rate, depth, and rhythm.

Diffusion (Pulmonary)

The passive molecular exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide across the alveolar-capillary membrane between alveoli and red blood cells.

Perfusion (Pulmonary)

The flow and cardiovascular distribution of oxygenated and deoxygenated red blood cells through the pulmonary capillary bed.

Hypercarbia

An elevated concentration of carbon dioxide ($\text{CO}_2$) in arterial blood, serving as the body's primary neurological stimulus to increase the rate and depth of respiration.

Hypoxemia

A condition characterized by an abnormally low concentration of dissolved arterial oxygen ($\text{O}_2$).

Pulse Oxygen Saturation ($\text{SpO}_2$)

A non-invasive clinical estimation of arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation ($\text{SaO}_2$) recorded via pulse oximetry, considered reliable at values above $70\%$.

Seizure

A sudden, temporary alteration in brain function caused by abnormal, excessive electrical discharges across cerebral neurons.

Epilepsy

A chronic neurological disorder characterized by $2$ or more unprovoked seizures, or a single prolonged seizure presenting with a high probability of recurrence.

Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures (PNES)

Seizure-like episodes that lack abnormal cortical electrical activity, occurring instead as somatic manifestations of physical or psychological distress.

Status Epilepticus

A critical medical emergency defined by prolonged continuous seizure activity or consecutive seizures recurring without interval recovery of consciousness.

SUDEP

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; a fatal complication characterized by the unexplained non-traumatic death of an individual diagnosed with epilepsy.

Catamenial Epilepsy

A form of epilepsy where seizure frequency increases cyclically during specific phases of the menstrual cycle due to the neuromodulatory effects of estrogen and progesterone.

Focal Onset Seizure

A category of seizures whose epileptiform electrical activity originates within neural networks limited to a single cerebral hemisphere.

Generalized Seizure

A category of seizures characterized by epileptogenic electrical discharges originating simultaneously across both cerebral hemispheres.

Focal Aware Seizure

A focal-onset seizure lasting $1\text{ to }3\,\text{minutes}$ where the person remains conscious, alert, and oriented, experiencing motor twitching, sensory disturbances, or psychic phenomena.

Focal Impaired Awareness Seizure

A focal seizure lasting $1\text{ to }3\,\text{minutes}$ characterized by confusion, a blank stare, and automatisms (purposeless involuntary movements), with a risk of combativeness if restrained.

Generalized Absence Seizure

A generalized non-motor seizure lasting under $20\,\text{seconds}$, characterized by sudden behavioral arrest and a blank stare, most commonly observed in children aged $4\text{ to }14\,\text{years}$.

Tonic-Clonic Seizure

A major generalized motor seizure lasting $1\text{ to }3\,\text{minutes}$, beginning with loss of consciousness and sustained muscular contraction (tonic phase), followed by rhythmic jerking of extremities (clonic phase).

Atonic Seizure

A generalized seizure caused by a sudden, complete loss of muscle tone, causing the person's limbs to go limp and resulting in sudden ragdoll-like falls.

Seizure First Aid (Stay, Safe, Side)

The standard first aid management protocol for active seizures: stay with and time the patient, ensure a safe environment without physical restraint, and turn them onto their side without inserting objects into their mouth.