Blood Pressure

Question 1

Steps Procedure

Answer 1

1. Explain procedure to patient
2. disinfect hands & prepare material (stethoscope + sphygmomanometer: make sure set to 0!)
3. ask patient to sit and to lay arm on table and sit 90 deg to him
4. Check cuff size: if need above 35cm
5. Align marker to brachial artery + have the scratch opening towards the patient. Cuff 2cm above fossa. Tighten to have space for 1 finger
6. Palpate radial pulse and put stethoscope in your ears, have diaphragm ready near the brachial artery
7. Inflate until no pulse + 30mmHg
8. Apply pressure on stethoscope, let go of the radial artery
9. Deflate by 2mmHg/sec
10. First sound is 1st Korotkoff sound and is the systolic pressure
11. Sound dissapearance is the 5th Korotkoff sound and is the diastolic pressure

Question 2

Procedure explanation to patient

Answer 2

I will take your blood pressure, this means putting a cuff around your upper arm. This cuff will inflate so it might become a bit uncomfortable but it shouldn’t hurt. That’s fine ?

Question 3

Normal pressure, too high/too low

Answer 3

between and 120/80 mmHg is a normal reading
120 is systolic (pressure during contraction) and 80 diastolic (pressure during relaxation)
under 90/60mmHg is too low
over 140/90mmHg (or 150/90mmHg or higher if you’re over the age of 80) is too high

Question 4

Sphygmomanometer

Answer 4

millimeters of mercury
Big lines is 20
middle lines is 10
small lines is 2
Answer accurate if withing 2mmHg of real one

Question 5

Auscultation gap

Answer 5

An auscultatory gap is a period of diminished or absent Korotkoff sounds during the manual measurement of blood pressure. The improper interpretation of this gap may lead to blood pressure monitoring errors: namely, an underestimation of systolic blood pressure and/or an overestimation of diastolic blood pressure.

Question 6

BP influencing factors

Answer 6

If cuff too loose then BP too low
If cuff too thight then BP too high
If deflation less than 2mmHg/sec then BP can get too high