Tachycardic Struggles

[grrumble, BSN, RN]

Hello! I am in orientation for my first RN job and just started night shifts. It's been a long time since my nursing student clinicals because of the pandemic, so I was practicing head-to-toe assessments last night at work. I had more trouble checking pedal and radial pulses than I remember having--all I felt was my own pulse pounding in my fingers (racing as it was). I have a tendency to be tachy myself, but it made me feel so stupid to not be able to palpate someone else's pulse now that I'm on the job. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has ideas? 

I'm writing in this forum because all the posts about POTS sounded so familiar to some of my experiences. This is my first post, and I appreciate any advice!

[dianah, ASN]

Moved to First Year after Nursing Licensure area

[0.9%NormalSarah, BSN, RN]

No big deal, there are lots of patients where you can clearly feel a strong pulse, and so many others that are very faint. If you’re not sure, just grab a Doppler and mark it on your patient’s skin. Radial pulses are usually in about the same spot, but the area where you can palpate a pedal pulses varies greatly person to person. 

[grrumble, BSN, RN]

23 hours ago, 0.9%NormalSarah said:

No big deal, there are lots of patients where you can clearly feel a strong pulse, and so many others that are very faint. If you’re not sure, just grab a Doppler and mark it on your patient’s skin. Radial pulses are usually in about the same spot, but the area where you can palpate a pedal pulses varies greatly person to person. 

I appreciate that. What was bothering me was more the fact that it was just me who couldn't feel the patient's pulses no matter how strong they were-- I kept feeling my heart pumping in my fingertips and couldn't differentiate that from the patient. I was wondering if anyone with persistent tachycardia (or maybe POTS) struggles with the same thing.

[0.9%NormalSarah, BSN, RN]

Oh I see! Well that’s a great question, and I don’t think I have a great answer because I have a very low HR and I think my fingers’ pulses are generally not bounding so I can differentiate. Now I’m curious to see what others say!