What is pulse force?

• A. Weak, bounding or irregular
• B. The number of times the heart beats per minute
• C. The spacing between successive heartbeats
• D. The color of the skin around pulse site

Answer: (A)

Pulse force is about how hard or soft the pulse feels at a site like the wrist, which reflects the strength of the heart’s contractions and blood flow. Descriptions of pulse force use terms such as weak, normal, or bounding, and can note irregularity if the force varies from beat to beat. This is why describing the force as weak, bounding, or irregular best captures how the pulse’s strength may present. The other factors listed describe different aspects: heart rate is how many times the heart beats per minute, spacing between beats refers to rhythm, and the color of the skin around the pulse site isn’t about the pulse’s force.