Blood pressure cuffs

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2015

Do you do manual bp's for your assesments, or do you have an automatic machine? If so, what kind? I'd love to get an automatic machine with b/p, p, and O2 like at hospitals, but I'm afraid I probably don't have the money in the budget

I have and prefer a manual. Much more accurate.

But to be honest, I don't check many student BPs. Assessments in school nursing (at least in my office) don't often require them; my eyes/ears are my best assessment tool. I check more staff BPs throughout the year than students.

I do have an O2 sat, which I purchased for ~$40. I end up using it less as an assessment tool, however, and more as a way to teach to kids with anxiety/panic attacks and calm them to a degree when they feel like they can't breath.

Farawyn · Jun 17, 2015

I agree. I've always like manual better.

Eleven011 · Jun 17, 2015

I am thinking more of the routine assesments than the tummyaches. I will be doing lots of b/p's. Every student K-6 gets b/p, P, Height, weight and vision. Every year.

Farawyn · Jun 17, 2015

In my school if they come in with a Dr. physical we don't need to do another one.

SnowyJ, RN · Jun 17, 2015

I only use BP if a child has fainted or is very dizzy.

It also came in handy when I had to call 911 for a student having a severe asthma attack. I was able to report full VS to EMS.

SnowyJ, RN · Jun 17, 2015

Oh, and I have a small and large manual cuff.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2015

In my school if they come in with a Dr. physical we don't need to do another one.

Same for me. I do height and weight checks on 7th and 10th graders for BMI reporting (per state requirements) and vision/hearing, but students are required to have a physical before they enter school and every 3 years after that, unless they play a sport, than every year. But every district is different...

nyy2 · Jun 17, 2015

I was thinking the same thing dakotadenise. I'm alone at a fairly busy k-5 school, so any time saved is very much welcomed! We do physicals at school for those who did not get one at their MD and the number we do varies yearly, but I was looking at an automatic cuff for kids on schoolnursesupply.com that did BP and pulse, thinking that might make things go a little quicker. It was around $100 and my budget will probably be around $400-450, so I am also unsure if I want to use a quarter of my budget on that....

Kittery · Jun 17, 2015

OP, if you have to do that many sets of VS every year, I'd definitely invest in automatic! And maybe just recheck manually if you get a funky reading.