CNA scope of practice

Vtachy1 · Oct 18, 2016

It seems crazy if it is not in their scope of practice, but I know that ultrasound techs cannot tell ANYTHING about the sex of your baby. So it makes me think that CNAs may not be able to tell the blood pressure. It says the blood pressure in broad daylight for them to read on the automatic ones. Just not sure about this question.

Vtachy1 · Oct 20, 2016

The answer is: You check with the policy at your job. But you can tell them what their blood pressure reading is, and then if it is high or too low, you reassure them that you will tell the nurse right away, and try not to alarm them.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Oct 22, 2016

The tricky thing about telling pts their BP is that they'll inevitably want to know if it's high or low. You can probably report th number obtained, however, typically the pt or their family will want to know what the numbers mean.

This is the sticky spot.

Even as an RN, I hesitate to tell them

if it's high or low....because the MD may or may not have ordered meds or perameters for specific numbers.

I typically report the actual numbers. And typically defer interpreting them-e.g. I won't answer whether it's high or low. I typically say something like: "Your Dr will compare this to the rest of your typical BPs and will prescribe orders if your BP is not close to your baseline."