Correlating monitor cuff pressure with manual?

[erinnRN]

Hello fellow ICU nurses:

Question: do you routinely correlate your monitor NIBP with the manual cuff with every admission and every patient? i don't mean verifying aline pressures with the manual or monitor cuff....

just curious of what your routine is.

Thanks,

E.

[bluesky, BSN, RN]

Here's a question for you guys: When you verify an A-line, do you use the A-line arm or the other one? Do you think it matters?

Yes, if the pt is on pressors I would definitely do both sides to determine if you have some kind of vascular compromise on the side of the A-line. It doesn't happen often (only once to me so far) but when it does, you have made a significant finding (when the A-line arm NIBP correlates with the A-line and not the other side NIBP).

[bluesky, BSN, RN]

I guess as long as you don't try taking an NIBP around the neck all is good :)

I think that technique would be very therapeutic for a couple of MDs I know,however...

[Tenesma]

dynamaps use a different system to measure BP that has its own bugs - and therefore in certain clinical situations should be correlated with a manual cuff (ie: irregular rhythms, fast rhythms, very slow rhythms, etc...)