Process_Essay__Taking_Blood_Pressure_

Walking down the halls, prepping patients, and giving medications; this is what I want to do in the future, become a nurse. I discovered this my junior year when I took an anatomy class that really interested me. In this class I learned many important things, and one was how to take blood pressure, which is very important to one’s health. In order to take blood pressure you will need a stethoscope and a blood pressure monitor. There are two different types of monitors: digital and manual. I will be explaining the steps of a manual monitor. After you have your equipment find a quiet place, that way you can relax the patient, and also make it easier for you to hear the pulse. Roll up the sleeve on the patient’s non dominant arm. If you take blood pressure on their dominant arm it can lead to non accurate results. Locate the pulse with your pointer and middle finger. It should be right below the crease in the arm; right below the elbow on the inside of the arm. Now that you have found the pulse, place the cuff around their biceps and partly over the crease in their arm where you found their pulse. Stick the end of your stethoscope under the cuff on the spot where you found the pulse, and put the ends in your ears. Now you will twist the little knob on the pump of the monitor to the right. This will allow the cuff to hold air, so you can tighten it around the patients arm. Hold the pump in your hand, and start pumping while looking at the monitor, you should pump it to about 160. While doing this it will tighten the cuff around the patients arm, and when you release the air slowly it will allow blood flow to begin and you will be able to hear the pulse. Finally, to release air, slowly start turning the knob to the left until you hear the pulse, and see the arm jump on the monitor. Make sure you don’t release the air too quickly or else you won’t have an accurate reading. The first number that the monitor arm jumps at is your systolic or top number. Keep watching the monitor and listening through the stethoscope. The last number that the arm jumps at is the diastolic number or bottom number. If the first number the arm jumped at was 120 and the last number the arm jumped at was 80, then you would have a blood pressure of 120/80 which is the average range. Since you now know how to take blood pressure I hope you will use this to help check the healthiness of your body.