The nurse is assessing the vital signs of a 20-year-old male marathon runner and documents the following vital signs: temperature-36 C; pulse-48 beats per minute; respirations-14 breaths per minute; blood pressure-104/68 mm Hg. Which statement is true concerning these results?

A) The patient is experiencing tachycardia.
B) These are normal vital signs for a healthy, athletic adult.
C) The patient's pulse rate is not normal-his physician should be notified.
D) On the basis of these readings, the patient should return to the clinic in 1 week.

This is a normal finding for this patient. Although, in the adult, a heart rate less than 50 beats per minute is called bradycardia, this normally occurs in the well-trained athlete whose heart muscle develops along with the skeletal muscles. This is not tachycardia; tachycardia would be a pulse above 100 beats/minute. The patient's physician does not need to be called and the patient does not need to return in a week based on these findings. Instead, a heart rate less than 50 beats per minute in an adult is called bradycardia. However, this normally occurs in the well-trained athlete whose heart muscle develops along with the skeletal muscles.