Modification of nursing students' performance in blood pressure measurement: an educational retraining programme

AIM: To assess the procedure for measuring blood pressure (BP) among nursing students after the basic educational programme and after further supplementary training. METHODS: One hundred and fifty nursing students participated in the study, which was divided into two phases. During the first phase, students attended the routine educational programme in respect of the technique of measuring BP in the course of the lesson 'Basic Nursing'. During the next semester (second phase), the same students attended the lesson of 'Internal Medicine Nursing'. In the course of this lesson, a supplementary educational intervention for BP measurement was introduced for the purpose of this study. In order to perform our study, the university's written approval was given. At the end of the second phase, the 150 participants (volunteers) gave their oral consent for the anonymous publication of the results. RESULTS: The results showed an inadequate performance after the basic educational programme, but a significant improvement in the technique of measuring BP after supplementary educational intervention was achieved. This improvement was significant for all the parameters examined. CONCLUSION: Supplementary education of students may be required, as this could significantly improve their technique for the accurate measurement of BP.