Checking and Recording of Blood Pressure

Procedure

1. Ensure the patient has rested for at least five minutes and has not smoked or taken caffeine for 30 minutes.
2. Select a cuff whose bladder covers 80% of the arm circumference.
3. Support the arm at heart level with the palm facing upward.
4. Palpate the brachial pulse and place the cuff 2–3 cm above the antecubital fossa.
5. Estimate systolic pressure by palpation first, then deflate fully.
6. Place the stethoscope diaphragm lightly over the brachial artery.
7. Inflate to 30 mmHg above the palpated systolic estimate.
8. Deflate at 2–3 mmHg per second.
9. Record the first Korotkoff sound as systolic and the fifth (disappearance) as diastolic.
10. Repeat after one to two minutes if the reading is abnormal, and record both readings.