Blood pressure is the pressure exerted on resisting artery walls as blood is forced through from the heart. Monitoring a client’s blood pressure measurements helps nursing and medical staff to establish the ability of the client’s arteries to fill with blood, the efficiency of the heart as a pump, and the volume of circulating blood. It is normally taken using the arm but the thigh can also be used if required.
There are two types of blood pressure:
• systolic – the highest pressure reached during contraction of the heart
• diastolic – the pressure remaining in the ventricles when the heart is resting between contractions
Factors that may influence blood pressure include:
• high body temperature
• exposure to heat/cold
• stress
• obesity
• smoking
• alcohol
• heart disease
• haemorrhage.
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