Respiratory: Pulse Oximetry

As a nursing assistant, you will help provide safe care to clients who have or are at risk for hypoxia, which is when there is not enough oxygen to meet the needs of the body. These clients require pulse oximetry, which is a non-invasive, easy, and pain-free method of measuring the amount of oxygen carried by the hemoglobin in the red blood cells. This is known as arterial blood oxygen saturation, or SaO2 for short.