The assistive nursing personnel reports that the heart rate of the sle

The assistive nursing personnel reports that the heart rate of the sleeping 23-year-old athlete, who is hospitalized following complications of a tonsillectomy, is 56.

The assistive nursing personnel states that this is 10 beats per minute slower than when she took it earlier in the evening. The nurse knows that this is considered:
1. Normal, and they will continue to monitor the vital signs as ordered
2. Abnormally slow, and the health care provider should be notified immediately
3. Abnormally slow, and the nurse will recheck the heart rate before taking any ac-tion
4. Abnormally slow, signaling that the client may be hemorrhaging

ANSWER

ANS: 1
A healthy adult’s normal heart rate throughout the day averages 70 to 80 beats per minute or less if the individual is in excellent physical condition. However, during sleep the heart rate falls to 60 beats per minute or less. This means that the heart beats 10 to 20 fewer times in each minute dur-ing sleep or 60 to 120 fewer times in each hour. If the client were hemorrhaging, the heart rate would initially be tachycardic as the body attempts to compensate for the lost blood volume.