I work for a hospital that recently opened a general pediatric unit. My background is in pediatrics, but only at large Children's teaching hospitals.
Our director has insisted that the standard of care for our patients is to do vitals, including a BP, on ALL of our patients, even at night. Although she is a great nurse and a good boss, she does not have any pediatric experience.
Many of the nurses here with pediatric experience claim they have not always done BPs on all patients, every 4 hours. Those who have worked in General Peds say that the standard was generally TPR every 4 hrs and BP every shift. In my experience, it was tailored to the patient's diagnosis and baseline status. And on those who are difficult to obtain a BP on, such as infants and toddlers, I was happy to just get one good BP reading during my shifts.
I am trying to find some written sources regarding the best care for general pediatric patients, regarding BP frequency. I was wondering if anyone has researched this topic and found anything pertinent? I am trying to compile some information to bring to our director. I have a couple of articles so far.
Thanks for all your help in advance!