Questions:
Provide a brief explanation of what orthostatic hypotension is, and identify the vital signs and their values that define orthostatic (postural) hypotension.
Orthostatic hypotension occurs when an individual moves from a supine to a sitting or standing position. In an episode of OH, blood is pulled to the lower extremities by gravity. This pooling of blood stimulates the baroreceptors, sending a message to the vasomotor center of the brain and causing sympathetic nervous system activation. This results in an increased heart rate, which in turn increases the blood pressure and improves circulation back to the upper body . When this mechanism fails to work and perfusion is not rapidly returned to the brain, the individual may experience dizziness, blurred vision, syncope, and falls. OH prevalence increases With age and is usually co-morbid with other disorders, including neurological (e.g., cognitive performance), endocrine
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Does Mr. O’Brien exhibit signs of orthostatic vital signs? Explain.
As a nurse you would first get a set of vital signs from Mr. O’Brien in the supine position and record them. Second the nurse would wait a few minutes and then get a set of vital signs from Mr. O’Brien as he is sitting up and record them. Finally, the nurse would get a set of vital signs from Mr. O’Brien as he is standing a few minutes after the second set and record these vital signs. Mr. O’Brien’s vital signs dropped a little bit from his first to second but only a little bit. There was a big drop in his last vital signs which were great enough to fall into the definition of Orthostatic Hypotension as stated, Orthostatic hypotension is defined as a decrease in systolic blood pressure of 20 mm Hg or a decrease in diastolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg within three minutes of standing compared with blood pressure from the sitting or supine position. (Schimke, L., & Schimke, J.,