omron child sphygmomanometer

[Sabr, BSN, RN]

Hi all!

I purchased a manual child bp cuff for work and unfortunately, it is so difficult to get a reading; can't hear the systolic and diastolic in these children. My clients are young children (pre-toddler age and early school age) and one of them I can feel a pulse but no sound after deflating the cuff! I can barely feel a pulse for the other one. Is it my cuff? Or this new pt population has a special way that their BP's need to be assessed? When my cuff fails, I usually just go by the HR. I guess I can't go wrong with that. Any suggestions?

Thanks nurse posse!

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Hi all!

I purchased a manual child bp cuff for work and unfortunately, it is so difficult to get a reading; can't hear the systolic and diastolic in these children. My clients are young children (pre-toddler age and early school age) and one of them I can feel a pulse but no sound after deflating the cuff! I can barely feel a pulse for the other one. Is it my cuff? Or this new pt population has a special way that their BP's need to be assessed? When my cuff fails, I usually just go by the HR. I guess I can't go wrong with that. Any suggestions?

Thanks nurse posse!

If you are required to assess BP why is your employer not providing a BP cuff. It's difficult to do a manual BP on a young child.

If you need a BP value how can you make a determination based upon heart rate?

Are you using a sensitive stethoscope? Can you get a systolic by palpation?

[Sabr, BSN, RN]

I do the palpation method and it's been working great.