Measuring your oxygen levels (DRAFT)

If you are well with minimal COVID symptoms, there is no need for us to do regular observations, such as blood pressure, on you.

We do provide a pulse oximeter as required so that you can independently monitor the levels of oxygen in your blood. This can also be used on older children and / or if they are >40kg.

The pulse oximeter slides onto the end of your pointer finger and works by using light to measure how well oxygen is binding to your blood cells.

Symptoms that you should tell your nurse about and should make you check your / someone else’s oxygen levels with the pulse oximeter include:

  • feeling short of breath
  • chest pain
  • cough, especially if worsening
  • blue-tinged lips and / or fingertips
  • in small children where the pulse oximeter is too large to accurately measure oxygen levels, it is important to look at how they are breathing. If they look like they are working hard to breathe, you must inform nursing staff immediately. This is covered in more detail below.

Things that can affect the reading on the pulse oximeter:

  • nail polish / fake nails
  • poor positioning / patient movement
  • poor blood flow to the extremities / cold hands
  • bright light on the probe

You should aim for the trace to have a good waveform and a regular pulse as demonstrated in the top picture, the other pictures demonstrate a poor tracing:

Pulse Oximeter Waveform

Unless you have an underlying lung condition which affects your oxygen levels, 95-100% saturations are generally considered normal.

If you have oxygen saturations persistently at / below 94% with no underlying lung conditions and/or you feel short of breath, you need to inform your nursing team so we can assess and review accordingly.

Work of Breathing in Children

To know if a child is ‘working’ to breathe, look for these signs:

  • faster breathing rate
  • noisy breathing e.g grunting, wheezing
  • nasal flaring – nostrils widened whilst breathing
  • head bobbing/nodding
  • ‘recession’ or sucking in of the muscles between ribs / under the rib cage with breathing
  • ‘tracheal tug’ – a downwards movement of the windpipe which you can notice when looking at the front of the throat

These are serious indicators of severe respiratory distress and you should inform nursing / medical staff immediately if you are concerned and / or notice any of the above signs.