TAKING BLOOD PRESSURE

TAKING BLOOD PRESSURE

1. Step 1: Choose the right equipment. You need a quality stethoscope, a pressure cuff, aneroid or mercury column sphygmomanometer.

   • Step 2: Make sure the patient is relaxed. He/She should sit upright with his/her upper arm positioned so it is level with his/her heart.
     • Step 3: Place the BP cuff on the patient'arm. Palpate/locate the brachial artery and position the BP cuff so that the artery marker points to the brachial artery.
       • Step 4: Position the stethoscope. On the same arm that you placed the BP, cuff, palpate the arm at the antecubical fossa to locate the strongest pulse sounds and place the bell of the stethoscope over the brachial artery at the location.
         • Step 5: Inflate the cuff until you reach the maximum of 160-180 mmHg. (Make sure to focus on the gauge.)
           • Step 6: Deflate the cuff slowly and still focus on the gauge. Hear the first brief strongest pulse sound and see where the arrow on the gauge points out as you hear it. After so, hear the second strong pulse sound and do likewise.
             • Step 7: Now, the first sound that you'll gonna heard with now be the systole (ventricular contraction) and the second sound would be the diastole (ventricular relaxation).
               • - As you deflate, the arm of the gauge would fall counterclockiw - The normal BP for adults is 120/80 mmHg. - We palpate when we only use two fingers; we ausculate when we use the stethoscope.

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