Abstract

The problem of this study was (1) to find the incidence of fever among adult medical patients in the selected hospital, (2) to find the incidence of elevations of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or above after being below 100 for twenty-four hours or longer. and (3) to find what factor or factors, if any, could be used to identify these patients.

The study was conducted on the medical units of a selected hospital. Five hundred evening temperatures were taken from the temperature sheets and classified according to previous temperature, patterns. Four patients with beginning elevations were studied to find any factor or factors which could be used to identify patients with beginning elevations.

Ninety-five percent of the 300 temperatures were normal and 5 per cent were elevated when taken from the temperature sheets. Seventy-seven percent showed no elevations in the previous pattern and were still normal; only 23 percent showed any elevations either in the previous pattern or when the data were collected.

It was concluded that at 8 p.m. on any evening one would find 90 percent of the temperatures normal. There would be few beginning elevations. Because of the small number of patients with beginning elevations seen by the researcher no generalizations were made on the factors in their condition which would identify these patients. However, the general condition of two of the patients was such that their temperatures would have been checked more frequently than once daily.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Carol Ann Brady

Second Advisor

R. Maureen Maxwell

Third Advisor

Gertrude L. Haussler

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1966

Date (Title Page)

6-1966

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Body Temperature -- in adulthood; Patients

Type

Thesis

Page Count

v; 43

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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