Sons de Korotkoff: desenvolvimento da pesquisa em esfigmomanometria na Escola de Enfermagem da USP

Theoretical and practical knowledge of nursing professionals on indirect blood pressure measurement at a coronary care unit

OBJECTIVE

To determine and to analyze the theoretical and practical knowledge of Nursing professionals on indirect blood pressure measurement.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 31 professionals of a coronary care unit (86% of the Nursing staff in the unit). Of these, 38.7% of professionals were nurses and 61.3% nurse technicians. A validated questionnaire was used to theoretical evaluation and for practice assessment the auscultatory technique was applied in a simulation environment, under a non-participant observation.

RESULTS

To the theoretical knowledge of the stages of preparation of patient and environment, 12.9% mentioned 5-minute of rest, 48.4% checked calibration, and 29.0% chose adequate cuff width. A total of 64.5% of professionals avoided rounding values, and 22.6% mentioned the 6-month deadline period for the equipment calibration. On average, in practice assessment, 65% of the steps were followed. Lacks in knowledge were primary concerning lack of checking the device calibration and stethoscope, measurement of arm circumference to choose the cuff size, and the record of arm used in blood pressure measurement.

CONCLUSION

Knowledge was poor and had disparities between theory and practice with evidence of steps taken without proper awareness and lack of consideration of important knowledge during implementation of blood pressure measurement. Educational and operational interventions should be applied systematically with institutional involvement to ensure safe care with reliable values.

Blood pressure measurement: arm circumference and cuff size availability

To avoid inaccurate blood pressure (BP) readings, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends cuff width (CW) encircling 40% of the arm circumference (AC) and cuff length at least 80-100%. This study aimed to identify inpatients´ AC, the corresponding cuff size and the cuff size availability. In total, 81 AC were measured in the right arm. The cuff sizes to fit them were calculated according to AHA AC/CW width 0.40 ratio. The AC varied from 17.5 to 40.5 cm and the corresponding cuff width from 6 to 16cm. The standard cuff 12 by 23 cm, the only size available in the clinics, was appropriate for only 17.3% of the subjects, whose AC varied between 32.5 and 34.3 cm. The lack of availability of different cuff sizes continues being a challenging problem to be faced. The standard cuff available, 12cm large, did not fit 82.7% of the identified AC, resulting in over or underestimated BP registers.