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Guidelines for Patient Temperature Assessment
Guidelines for Patient Temperature Assessment
Comparing with Other Methods of Thermometry:
Expect the Differences
Unless you are using PA catheters or Exergen aural thermometers with AHB for temperature as-
sessment, expect to see differences compared to your current thermometers. Arterial tempera-
ture measurement leads all other methods in identifying fever or defervescence, and is unaffected
by patient activity. Accordingly, it will be sometimes be different—
but correct
.
The following chart presents the range of normal temperatures at the common temperature
measurement sites under normal resting conditions.
Arterial
97.4 -100.1°F
(36.3 - 37.8°C)
Oral
96.6 - 99.5ºF
(35.9 - 37.5°C
)
Esophageal
98.4 -100.0ºF
(36.9 - 37.8°C)
Rectal
97.7 - 100.3ºF
(36.5 - 37.9°C)
Oronasal
96.6 - 99.0ºF
(35.9 - 37.2ºC)
Axillary
95.5 - 98.8°F
(35.3 - 37.1°C)
Normal Body Temperature (BT)
Normal BT is not a single temperature but a range of temperatures influenced by age,
time of day, and the measurement site.
General Rule of Thumb
On a stable, resting patient, rectal temperature is ~2°F (1°C) higher than axillary and
~1°F (0.5°C ) higher than oral temperature.
1
On a stable, resting patient, arterial temperature ~ rectal temperature.
Expect the Differences
Arterial temperature measurement (PA Catheter, TA Thermometry) leads all other
methods in identifying fever or defervescence, unaffected by activities of daily living. It
will sometimes be different from your present methods —
but accurate
.
