Whats the difference between an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer?
1) the taste (old joke) 2) “In the hospital, they’re color coded so that you don’t take a rectal temp in the morning and use the same thermometer to take an oral temp in the afternoon.” Source and further information: http://www.boingboing.net/…/…b-squarepant.html 3) “a. Glass Oral Thermometers. (1) The bulb of an oral thermometer is either long tipped, pear-shaped, or stubby (figure 2-5 A ). A long and slender bulb exposes as much surface area of the mercury as possible. Having more surface area exposed helps obtain an accurate temperature quickly. (2) The other (stem) end of the oral thermometer is colored blue. Color-coding thermometers lets you tell an oral thermometer from a rectal thermometer quickly. b. Glass Rectal Thermometers. (1) The bulb of a rectal thermometer is short and thick in order to protect the rectum (figure 2-5 B ). A long, slender bulb tip could accide
