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Nursing vocabulary · Vital Signs

Vital signs

Meaning in nursing, with examples

/ˈvaɪtəl saɪnz/nounCore term

In nursing, vital signs means: The basic body measurements that show how well a patient's body is working: usually temperature, pulse, breathing rate, blood pressure and oxygen level.

In Turkish: yaşam bulguları, vital bulgular

How it is used

Nurses take, record and monitor vital signs at set times and whenever a patient seems unwell. In US hospitals people often say 'vitals'; on UK wards the same checks are usually called 'obs'. Some hospitals also treat pain as a vital sign.

Example sentences

  1. Can you check his vital signs again in thirty minutes? His blood pressure was a bit low.

  2. Her vital signs have been stable all night.

Common collocations

  • take vital signs
  • check vital signs
  • monitor vital signs
  • stable vital signs
  • record vital signs
  • observationsIn nursing, the regular set of measurements taken from a patient, mainly the vital signs, and sometimes other checks such as pain or level of consciousness.
  • blood pressureThe force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries, written as two numbers such as 120/80 and measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).
  • pulseThe beat of the heart that can be felt where an artery is close to the skin, such as at the wrist, counted as beats per minute.
  • respiratory rateThe number of breaths a person takes in one minute, counted by watching the chest rise and fall.
  • oxygen saturationThe percentage of the blood's haemoglobin that is carrying oxygen, usually measured with a small clip on the finger called a pulse oximeter.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Vital Signs

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.