Recording patients blood pressure: a review

This paper reviews the proper technique which should be adopted by the nurse in order to obtain accurate blood pressure measurements. Although this is difficult using conventional instruments, statistics uniformly confirm the harmful significance of an elevated blood pressure. Any nurse delivering high quality care must be able to carry out nursing procedures skillfully and accurately. The methodology of blood pressure recording is discussed, analysed and evaluated. It is well‐documented that there are many potential sources of error in recording blood pressure, including poor technique and observer bias. The paper deals with these and highlights some of the dilemmas that this technique presents to the nurse. A claim is made that many nurses are often inadequately trained in blood pressure measurement, and with increasing reliance on the nurse for records, much more attention needs to be focused on this area.