PROCEDURE. 1. Select thermometer: glass or electronic

1. Select thermometer: glass or electronic. Follow agency guidelines regarding type of thermometer to use, oral or rectal.

2. Expose axillary area.

3. Make sure axillary skin is dry. Pat dry if necessary as it prevents a false low reading.

5. Prepare thermometer as in Oral Temperature.

6. Place tip of thermometer under the child’s arm, well up into the axilla. Bring the child’s arm down close to the body and hold in place. It ensures more accurate measurement, allows thermometer tip to rest against superficial blood vessels in axilla; brings skin surfaces together, thus reducing air around the tip of the thermometer that might affect temperature reading. (Figure 4)

FIGURE 4 Positioning when taking an axillary

temperature.

7. Leave in place required amount of time.

a. Glass thermometer: 6–10 minutes according to agency policy. It allows sufficient time for the thermometer to register results in a more accurate assessment of body temperature.

8. Remove thermometer and read as in Oral Temperature.

9. Clean and store thermometer as in Oral Temperature.

Ex.4 Read the following instruction and make up sentences into one as in the modal. Use the conjunctions of cause and purpose as, because in order to, so as:

Remove probe cover from the container and attach it to the probe tip. Prevents contamination. – Remove the probe cover from the container and attach it to the probe tip as it prevents contamination.