Vital Signs and the Walrus Penis
Did you know that a walrus has a penis bone that is about 2 feet long? I didn’t either, but I do now. Just don’t ask how… lol…
Today, we spent some time in lab learning how to record patient vital signs. We looked at several different types of thermometers, stethoscopes, and sphygmomanometers. We also learned to count respirations while taking a patient’s pulse. When people know you are watching them breathe, they aren’t likely to breathe normally. For some reason, I felt a little intimidated about getting blood pressure readings. I guess it’s just because I had never done it and didn’t know how. I was amazed at how simple it is. I feel like I learned something important today :)
We also practiced moving completely immobile patients from wheelchairs and stretchers onto the x-ray table. Maybe it’s just me, but that process seems simpler than assisting partially immobile people. Moving dead weight is a job for at least two people instead of just one. Maybe that’s why it didn’t seem so difficult.
I’m off to clinical again in the morning and I really hope to get some chest and abdomen pre-comps knocked out…