How to take a temperature
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.
The route changes the number, so always write the route with the value. A temperature of 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) or higher is a fever in most settings.
Step by step
Prepare
Clean your hands, introduce yourself, confirm the patient and explain. [1]
Choose the route
Oral for alert adults, tympanic or temporal for quick checks, axillary when others are not possible, rectal when an accurate core value is needed (for example infants). [1]
Oral
Wait 15 to 30 minutes after eating, drinking or smoking. Probe cover on, under the tongue in the back pocket, lips closed. [2]
Tympanic
Probe cover on. Adults: pull the ear up and back; young children: down and back. Seal the canal and press the button. [2]
Temporal
Slide the probe across the forehead to the hairline, following the device instructions. [2]
Axillary
Probe in the center of a dry armpit, arm down against the body. [2]
Clean and record
Throw away the cover, clean the device, and write the value with the route and time. [1]
Common errors
- Taking an oral temperature right after a cold drink.
- Not writing the route.
- Pulling the ear the wrong way in adults.
Practice it in VMS
In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
VMS cases that train this skill
Sources
- OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (CC BY 4.0)
- Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
Steps adapted from OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills and Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.