vital signs

vi·tal signs (VS),

determination of temperature, pulse rate, rate of breathing, and level of blood pressure.

Synonym(s): vitals (2)

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

vital signs

pl.n.

Body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure as measured to assess health or dysfunction.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Vital Signs

A phrase referring to a UK Department of Health approach to planning and managing some of the UK’s most critical health issues, by creating a framework which allows increased autonomy to better meet national and local priorities.

Vital Signs
• National requirements—those things that a local NHS “must do”—e.g., meet targets such as waiting times for cancer treatment and number of MRSA infections per unit of population;
• National priorities delivered locally—those things a local NHS “needs to do”—e.g., implement initiatives to address childhood obesity rates and avoidable deaths from heart disease and stroke—to be agreed and approved by the local Strategic Health Authority;
• Local actions—those things a local NHS “chooses to do”—e.g., local targets for mental health services, diabetes, and so on; the DH does not involve itself in the performance of local activities.

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

vital signs

Vitals Clinical medicine Any objective parameter used to assess basic life functions–eg, bp, pulse, respiratory rate, and temperature

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

vi·tal signs

(vī'tăl sīnz)

Objective measurements of temperature, pulse, respirations, and blood pressure as a means of assessing general health and cardiorespiratory function.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

vital signs

Indications that a person is still alive. Vital signs include breathing, sounds of the heart beat, a pulse that can be felt, a reduction in the size of the pupils in response to bright light, movement in response to a painful stimulus and signs of electrical activity in the brain on the electroencephalogram.

Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

Vital signs

Basic indicators of body function, usually meaning heartbeats per minute, breaths per minute, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight.

Mentioned in: Life Support, Liver Biopsy

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

vi·tal signs

(VS) (vīt-ăl sīnz)

Clinical determination of temperature, pulse rate, rate of breathing, and level of blood pressure.

Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions © Farlex 2012