Question 1

How Do You Use It?

Accepted Answer

How I learned to do a 2-step blood pressure reading (suggested method for accurate blood pressure value) in nursing school:

1. Ask patient to have arms at heart level and legs uncrossed

2. Put cuff on patient’s arm about 1 inch above crease in elbow and making sure arrow on bladder points to brachial artery.

3. Make sure dial is turned all the way right (righty tighty).

4. Estimate systolic pressure by having your fingers on the radial pulse of arm you are measuring and pumping until you feel pulse stops then release. Note that number on the monitor and release pressure by moving the dial to the left (lefty loosy).

5. Count for 30 secs break before moving to 2nd step to accommodate for potential auscultatory gap.

6. Add 30 to estimated systolic pressure (gotten in step 4) and place stethoscope with either side of stethoscope on brachial artery. Pump until you reach your calculated number and slowly release pressure about 2 mm/hg per sec to note very first (systolic) and very last (diastolic) korotkoff sound

7. Always state what patient’s blood pressure is and that normal systolic is less than 120 mm/hg, normal diastolic is less than 80 mm/hg.

Hope that helps! Practice is the #1 way to get this down.

Question 2

How do you know it needs a calibration if it doesnt have a zero printed on the face?

Accepted Answer

There is a difference between Zeroing a meter and Calibrating it. Zeroing a meter means adjusting the needle to be at the zero mark when there is zero stimulus (in this case, zero pressure). This is often done when making differential measurements - which is NOT what the typical person is doing when reading their BP. A Zeroed meter is highly unlikely to be Calibrated - it would be a complete coincidence if it was. There is no 0 mark on the meter to discourage amateurs from Zeroing the meter thinking they were Calibrating it. A calibrated meter is one that has been adjusted to match a known standard that is traceable to an official standards organization like ANSI. You would calibrate a simple mechanical meter like this one to read the same pressure as a standard at a pressure close to the average pressures being measured. So if your BP was typically 120/80 you would calibrate the meter to match the standard at 100. Due to slight variations in manufacturing, it is unlikely that a calibrated meter would read exactly 0 at zero pressure, but it would be very accurate around the pressure to which it was calibrated. The further away the measured pressure is from the pressure to which the meter was calibrated, the less accurate the measurement would become. Standards are expensive to maintain, so unless you are a calibration company it is not worth buying one. However, your doctor's meter is regularly calibrated to a standard (or at least should be) so you can bring your meter in with you and adjust your meter to read the same as theirs (or reasonably close). This is not technically calibrating your meter because it is not directly using a standard, but it is plenty close for our purposes.

Question 3

Is this a good BP cuff for a beginning nursing studentl?

Accepted Answer

It is good to practice with, especially considering the value, so I would recommend it. However, I will warn you that the dial broke after 3 weeks of daily use for me, so I wouldn't use it that often.

Question 4

Is this product latex free?

Accepted Answer

My wife is an RN she says that to her knowledge there is no latex. However, she also said that it fell apart after short use and would not recommend it.

PARAMED Aneroid Sphygmomanometer – Manual Blood Pressure Cuff with Universal Cuff 8.7-16.5" and D-Ring – Carrying Case in The kit – Black – Stethoscope Not Included

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