All about "vital signs"

 
 

 
 
I'm Candy, and this is my "PCA", Crystal. I don't know what all the letters stand for, but what I do know is that she visits me often to make sure I'm OK. Why even now, she came in to "take my vital signs". I learned what that means, so I thought you'd like to know, too. Taking my vital signs doesn't mean that she's planning to run off with them. Crystal uses special equipment to find out just how my insides are doing...like how warm I am inside, how fast my heart's beating, how hard it has to work, and how many times I take a breath. All of the answers to those questions are my vital signs. As you can tell by the expression on my face, none of this  hurts...not even a little bit!

 
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Joan Fleitas, Ed.D., R.N.
Associate Professor of Nursing, Lehman College, CUNY
Bronx, New York 10468

Last updated: November 14, 2004