Background: Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against a blood vessels traditionally measured non-invasively by auscultation using an aneroid gauge or mercury device. The objective of this study was to determine whether the nursing staff of a Public hospital in Guyana follow international guidelines for the measurement of blood pressure. Since the detection and subsequent management of patients with high blood require that the technique followed by nursing staff who measure patients' blood pressure produces accurate readings. Methods: This was a quantitative, cross sectional study, conducted in the national referral hospital GPHC in Guyana assessing a sample of 137 of the 781 nursing staff working in the five departments of this hospital. Data was collected through the use of a questionnaire developed following the guidelines for non-invasive blood pressure measurement published by Nerengberg 2018, by the researcher and validated by experts in blood pressure measurement technique and research methodology. Results: 5% of the participants was ward managers, 12% was RNM, 35% of the participants was registered nurses, 7%was qualified midwives, 18% of the participants was nursing assistants and 23% of the participants was patient care assistants. Most of the participants i.e. 39.4% had 4-6, years of experience 31.4% had more than 6 years of experience and 29.2% had 0-3ears of experience in their area off work which means that they all had education and experience in blood pressure measurement. When compared to the steps of the blood pressure measurement technique 72% allow the patient to rest for at least five minutes, 82% provided a calm and quiet environment, 37% explain to the patient not to talk during the procedure, 13% ask the patient to keep the legs uncrossed, 10% ask the patient to keep the feet flat on the floor and 31% of the participants ask the patient to keep the back against the chair. Conclusion: None of the nursing staff of GPHC Guyana followed all of the steps in the guidelines for the measurement of non-invasive blood pressure. While 15 of the 26 steps in guideline measured resulted in more than 75% adherence there were 9 of the 26 steps that had a less than 25% adherence by nursing staff. This means that the steps in the blood pressure guidelines are taken without a standardized guideline and so nursing staff.

Background: Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against a blood vessels traditionally measured non-invasively by auscultation using an aneroid gauge or mercury device. The objective of this study was to determine whether the nursing staff of a Public hospital in Guyana follow international guidelines for the measurement of blood pressure. Since the detection and subsequent management of patients with high blood require that the technique followed by nursing staff who measure patients' blood pressure produces accurate readings. Methods: This was a quantitative, cross sectional study, conducted in the national referral hospital GPHC in Guyana assessing a sample of 137 of the 781 nursing staff working in the five departments of this hospital. Data was collected through the use of a questionnaire developed following the guidelines for non-invasive blood pressure measurement published by Nerengberg 2018, by the researcher and validated by experts in blood pressure measurement technique and research methodology. Results: 5% of the participants was ward managers, 12% was RNM, 35% of the participants was registered nurses, 7%was qualified midwives, 18% of the participants was nursing assistants and 23% of the participants was patient care assistants. Most of the participants i.e. 39.4% had 4-6, years of experience 31.4% had more than 6 years of experience and 29.2% had 0-3ears of experience in their area off work which means that they all had education and experience in blood pressure measurement. When compared to the steps of the blood pressure measurement technique 72% allow the patient to rest for at least five minutes, 82% provided a calm and quiet environment, 37% explain to the patient not to talk during the procedure, 13% ask the patient to keep the legs uncrossed, 10% ask the patient to keep the feet flat on the floor and 31% of the participants ask the patient to keep the back against the chair. Conclusion: None of the nursing staff of GPHC Guyana followed all of the steps in the guidelines for the measurement of non-invasive blood pressure. While 15 of the 26 steps in guideline measured resulted in more than 75% adherence there were 9 of the 26 steps that had a less than 25% adherence by nursing staff. This means that the steps in the blood pressure guidelines are taken without a standardized guideline and so nursing staff.