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Vital Signs

Author: Sophia

what's covered
In this lesson, you will learn important language for taking patients' vital signs during a physical assessment. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
  1. Los Signos Vitales (Vital Signs)
    1. Presión Sanguínea (Blood Pressure)
    2. Temperatura (Temperature)
    3. Ritmo Cardiaco/Pulso (Heart Rate)
    4. Saturación/Nivel de Oxígeno (Oxygen Saturation/Level)
    5. Peso (Weight)
    6. Altura (Height)
    7. Misceláneas (Miscellaneous)

before you start
Watch the following video to get a preview of the vocabulary you will be learning in this lesson. The video will also give you a chance to practice the phrases as you go along. Just do your best!

Video Transcript

1. Los Signos Vitales (Vital Signs)

Here you’ll find everything you need in order to take patients' blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate, as well as check their oxygen level, height, and weight.

1a. Presión Sanguínea (Blood Pressure)

The following chart provides language you can use when taking a patient's blood pressure.

English Spanish Pronunciation
I need take your blood pressure. Necesito tomarle la presión. nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay la pray-see-own
Keep your arm straight. Mantenga recto su brazo. mahn-tain-gah rake-toe sue brah-so
Please roll up your sleeve. Por favor, enróllese la manga. pour fah-bore ain-row-yay-say la mahn-gah
Your blood pressure is (#). Su presión sanguínea es (#). sue pray-see-own sahn-guee-nay-ah ace (#)
Your blood pressure is too high. Tiene una presión alta. tee-ay-nay oo-nah pray-see-own all-tah
Your blood pressure is too low. Tiene una presión baja. tee-ay-nay oo-nah pray-see-own bah-ha
Your blood pressure is normal. Tiene una presión normal. tee-ay-nay oo-nah pray-see-own noar-mall

1b. Temperatura (Temperature)

The following chart provides language you can use when taking a patient's temperature.

English Spanish Pronunciation
I need to take your temperature. Necesito tomarle la temperatura. nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay la tame-pair-ah-too-rah
Lift up your tongue. Levante su lengua. lay-bahn-tay sue lane-g'wah
This goes under your tongue. Esto va debajo de su lengua. ace-toe bah day-bah-ho day sue lane-g'wah
I am going to put this in your ear. Le voy a poner esto en su oído. lay boy ah pone-air ace-toe ain sue oh-ee-doe
I am going to place this on your forehead. Le voy a poner este en su frente. lay boy a pone-air ace-tay ain sue frain-tay
Your temperature is ____. Tiene una temperatura de ____. tee-ay-nay oo-nah tame-pair-ah-too-rah day ____.
Your temperature is high. Su temperatura es alta. sue tame-pair-ah-too-rah ace all-tah
You have a fever. Tiene una fiebre. tee-ay-nay oo-nah fee-ay-bray

1c. Ritmo Cardiaco/Pulso (Heart Rate)

The following chart provides language you can use when taking a patient's heart rate.

English Spanish Pronunciation
I need to take your heart rate. Necesito tomarle el pulso. nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay ale pool-so
May I have your wrist? ¿Me puede dar la muñeca? may p'way-day dar la moon-yay-kah
Your heart rate is ____. Su pulso es ____. sue pool-so ace ____.
I am going to listen to your heart to get your heart rate. Voy a escuchar su corazón para obtener su ritmo cardiaco. boy ah ace-koo-char sue core-ah-soan pa-rah oab-tay-nair sue reet-mo car-dee-ah-ko
Your heart rate is too high. Su ritmo cardiaco es muy alto. sue reet-mo car-dee-ah-ko ace moo-ee all-toe

1d. Saturación/Nivel de Oxígeno (Oxygen Saturation/Level)

The following chart provides language you can use when checking a patient's oxygen level.

English Spanish Pronunciation
I need to check your oxygen level. Necesito revisar su nivel de oxígeno. nay-say-see-toe ray-bee-sahr sue knee-bail day oak-see-hay-no
Please put your finger in here. Por favor, coloque su dedo aquí. pour fah-bore koh-low-kay sue day-doe ah-key
Your oxygen saturation is ____. La saturación de su oxígeno es ____. lah sa-too-rah-see-own day sue oak-see-hay-no ace ____.
I am going to have to take off your fingernail polish. Voy a tener que quitarle el esmalte de sus uñas. boy a tay-nair kay key-tar-lay ale ace-mall-tay day suess oon-yahs
Your oxygen saturation is fine. La saturación de su oxígeno está bien. lah sa-too-rah-see-own day sue oak-see-hay-no ace-tah bee-ain
It should be above 90%. Debería estar por encima del noventa %. day-bay-ree-ah ace-tar pour ain-see-mah dale no-bain-tah pour-see-ain-toe (tah)
Your oxygen level is too low. Su nivel de oxígeno está demasiado bajo. sue knee-bale day oak-see-hay-no ace-tah day-ma-see-ah-do ba-ho

1e. Peso (Weight)

The following chart provides language you can use when checking a patient's weight.

English Spanish Pronunciation
I need to check your weight. Necesito tomarle el peso. nay-say-see-toe toe-mar-lay ale pay-so
Please remove your shoes. Por favor, remueva sus zapatos. pour fah-bore ray-m'way-bah suess sah-pah-tohs
Step on the scale. Súbase a la báscula. sue-bah-say ah la bah-skoo-lah
Undress your baby to the diaper. Quítele la ropa a su bebé, déjele el pañal. key-tay-lay la row-pa ah sue bay-bay day-hay-lay ale pahn-yall
Your weight is ____. Su peso es ____. sue pay-so ace ____.

1f. Altura (Height)

The following chart provides language you can use when checking a patient's height.

English Spanish Pronunciation
I need to see how tall you are. Necesito medir su altura. nay-say-see-toe may-deer sue all-too-rah
Stand with your feet against the wall. Párese con sus pies en contra de la pared. pa-ray-say cone suess pee-ace ain cone-trah day la pah-raid
Stand up straight. Párese recto. pah-ray-say cone suess pee-ace ain cone-trah day la pah-raid
Your height is ____. Su altura es de ____. sue all-too-rah ace day ____.

1g. Misceláneas (Miscellaneous)

The following chart provides language you can use when assessing other common patient information.

English Spanish Pronunciation
Your child's head circumference is ____. La circunferencia de la cabeza de su niño es de ____. la seer-koon-fay-rain-see-ah day la kah-bay-sah day sue neen-yoh ace day ____.
Your BMI (body mass index) is ____. Su BMI (índice de masa corporal) es de ____. sue een-dee-say day mah-sah core-pour-all ace day ____.
I need to listen to... Necesito escuchar... nay-say-see-toe ace-koo-char...
...your heart . ...su corazón. ...sue core-ah-soan
...your lungs. ...sus pulmones. ...suess pool-mo-nace
...your stomach ...su estómago ...sue ace-toe-mah-go

summary
In this lesson, you learned important questions and phrases related to vital signs so that you can take a patient’s blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate. You also learned language for checking a patient's oxygen level, height, weight, and other miscellaneous information.

¡Buena suerte!

Support

If you are struggling with a concept or terminology in the course, you may contact SpanishforNursesSupport@capella.edu for assistance.

If you are having technical issues, please contact learningcoach@sophia.org.

Source: This content has been adapted from "Spanish for Nurses" by Stephanie Langston.