Nurses,what is the highest BP you've ever seen recorded on a pt.?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

when my mom was in the hospital last month,there was an ECG monitor in her room that got there from the trauma center and it showed the previous 5 recordings. the first BP recording of this trauma patient was 285/168. that was the highest that i have ever seen. my mom has hypertension and a few years ago,she has a reading of 230/155 and a capillary in her nose burst and she had a nosebleed that lasted 10 minutes. nurses,can you remember the highest ever that you've seen on a patient??

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I can't remember the exact number since it was in 1996 but I have seen a BP around what you describe. This was an ER patient. The MD and a team of nurses were actively treating the patient. That's about all I remember.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.

About 220/110 (rechecked it like 3 times.)....gave the PRN meds which didnt touch it and then called for some new orders.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency.

I work in the ER. An older lady came in complaining of nausea, headache, and upper back pain. She had not had her Clonidine (0.2mg TID) in over a week, along with her other daily meds.

Her blood pressure was over 300 systolic (that is the highest our sphygmomanometer went). Her diastolic was around 170.

:uhoh21:

Got it down to around 230ish with some Nipride before she went upstairs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency.

Oh, by the way, the ER physician did not believe MULTIPLE registered nurses who re-checked the manual blood pressure. We used different size cuffs, both arms, etc and the physician still wanted different people to re-check.

:banghead:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

SBP in the 280's, DBP in the 140's. Pt was stroking out, didn't make it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in New PACU RN.

220/110 - for almost the whole night - captopril q6h didn't touch it. Attending is like "as long as he's asymptomatic - monitor and we will assess in am."

ummmm, yeah. This guy had a stroke a few years ago. You're really gonna leave him with BP that high?

I don't know how they make their decisions. Whenver they don't know what to do they're like "We'll assess in the morning". Right.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

220/144, in my patient just the other day. Non-compliant hypertensive. 100 mg Lopressor and 10 mg Norvasc brought him WNL.

19 years ago, my father had a hemorrhagic stroke and was 300+/190+. He did not survive. He knew he was hypertensive but he was also non-compliant. I am pretty passionate with my patients about taking their meds!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nephrology.

I saw 260/168. I still remember it because the doc didn't believe me. This was mid seizure with blood spurting from this lady's central line. When the code team arrived they got the same thing and I wanted to strangle the doc. She died later that day in the ICU. Funny thing is, she was in the process of being discharged until one of the nurses found her having the seizure. And that doctor isn't practising anymore (not related to that).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I wouldn't say the highest, but my most shocking was a 19 year old girl that was at 198/118. I remained calm, tried again, did the same thing. I told her my cuff was broken and got someone else. They got the same pressure. She came back to us a few days later and found out she had some obscure kidney disease and would need a transplant. She was asymptomatic and it would have gone on if she hadn't fallen and sprained her wrist while lifeguarding. This was when I was an EMT at a water park.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

As an ER tech and nursing student, the highest systolic I've seen is in the 240's. The guy had NO idea he had HTN. Good teaching moment, and I think he listened.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology.

I think it was like 240/120. Hello Nicardipine drip.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment