Measuring pulse rate and temperature of a service user.

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view 53 essays on Healthcare that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

Task 4a

Pulse

About pulse

Every time the lower chambers of the heart contract, the blood in the left ventricle rushes upward into the aorta. It quickly speeds away from the heart causing the aorta to expand as it passes. As the blood races along, some of it pushes into the first artery that branches off from the aorta. Some of the blood enters the next artery.

The blood from each contraction of the heart produces a bulge in the artery. We call that bulge a pulse. One pulse equals one heartbeat.

The pulse can be felt anywhere an artery passes close to the skin. Common places to feel a pulse include the wrist, neck, temple, behind the knees, and on top of the foot.

Measuring the Pulse

To feel the service users pulse in the wrist, care workers should place index and middle finger over the underside of your opposite wrist, below the base of the thumb. Press firmly with flat fingers until you feel the pulse.

To feel the pulse on the neck, care worker should place index and middle finger just to the side of service user Adam's apple,