Have you heard this? Say it isn't so!

vamedic4, EMT-P · Jul 30, 2006

Don't worry about the urban legend rumors that circulate around nursing schools. They want you to succeed...just do your best. Taking blood pressures is not a difficult skill at all, no sense in getting all worked up about it.

Have a good day.

vamedic4

not sleeping why??

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Jul 30, 2006

I think she's exaggerating things a bit. BP's do take some practice.

metfan · Jul 30, 2006

I am concerned about taking bp because I have hearing loss in my right ear. I have to wear a hearing aid. I do have some hearing in that ear so I hope to get by. Any advice? Anyone else have this problem or was it a problem? Colleen

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2006

I am concerned about taking bp because I have hearing loss in my right ear. I have to wear a hearing aid. I do have some hearing in that ear so I hope to get by. Any advice? Anyone else have this problem or was it a problem? Colleen

If you have problems hearing out of a regular stethoscope there are ones with ampliphirers (sp?) on them. I work with someone who uses one of those. They are expesnsive, but hearing acurrately is important.

Good luck!@

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 30, 2006

I am concerned about taking bp because I have hearing loss in my right ear. I have to wear a hearing aid. I do have some hearing in that ear so I hope to get by. Any advice? Anyone else have this problem or was it a problem? Colleen

I know a registered nurse who is now an elementary school teacher because she has severe hearing loss. She felt (and her employer agreed) that she was becoming a danger to her patients due to her medical condition.

I am not saying you cannot be a registered nurse because I have no idea. :chair: I just want to support Tweety's statement that apparently hearing is very important in many areas of nursing. Therefore, ask your physician and the nursing school department what they think about your situation and what they recommend. Good luck. :wink2:

casi, ASN, RN · Jul 30, 2006

I am concerned about taking bp because I have hearing loss in my right ear. I have to wear a hearing aid. I do have some hearing in that ear so I hope to get by. Any advice? Anyone else have this problem or was it a problem? Colleen

I work with a lady who has some hearing loss (I really don't know how much). She wears hearing aids and quite a few times a third party has mentioned how rude people are to her because they yell when they talk to her.

She seems to do just fine taking manual BPs, even on the cruddy stethoscopes that work supplies! I think it's something you'll have to try out and see how it works.

metfan · Jul 30, 2006

Thanks for the responses! I am going to call the school tomorrow to let them know of my concerns. I have become pretty close to one of the teachers. I was not concerned about the hearing because it really does not affect me in my daily life at all. I actually never thought about it. I will be really upset if I can't do it. I have been through alot just to get into school. Colleen

lisabeth · Jul 30, 2006

If you have problems hearing out of a regular stethoscope there are ones with ampliphirers (sp?) on them.
Good luck!@

That is good to know. I will probably have to get those. I am paying for my teen years of listening to my music too loud, especially using my headphones.

NoWaNrN, ASN, RN · Jul 30, 2006

where I went to school at we had a lab they demoed the skill, we practiced and the did check offs. We only got 2 chances then you had to go in front of the director of the program and ask for another chance and do the check off in front of her, then she had to determine whether or not you were doing "safe" practice. Maybe it was 3 chances then asking, not sure I was lucky and passed the first time around on all of them. It was pretty hard to fail because it wasn't just pass or fail, they broke the skill down it to steps so if you missed a step it just lowered you grade 92, 90% kind of thing for the skill. Hope this helps.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jul 30, 2006

Yesterday in CNA class, a classmate told me she has been accepted into the Nursing Program to start in the fall. We were practicing taking bp's and she said she was afraid she would get kicked out of nursing school the first week for not being able to do bp's. She said they only give you a few chances to get it right, if you blow it, you are out.

You have thousands of chances to practice the skill before demonstrating it to your instructor at a pre-determined time and place. You have only a few times to get it right during THAT, as it is a test, but remember the same could be said of anything at all in school: how many shots to you have at exams before you fail?

Every skill that you learn is potentially evaluated (tested) at a given point.

Practice is everything. BP is only the first step, and with practice, you WILL succeed at this, honest :)

CHATSDALE · Jul 30, 2006

get some manual equipment and practice on friends and family

when you do a test determine placement..tip draw a mental line from ring finger up to brachial area . press with finger tips to assure that you have a pulse . support arm and pump..some schools/faciliy determine that pumping up to 160 for intial reading...if you have a reading as soon as you release pressure repeat because you are going to have a higher systolic

many facilities have the automatic reads for pulse-b/p-temp i prefer the manual but that is just me