A nurse performs an admission intake on a patient. While measuring the patient's blood pressure, the nurse notices that the blood pressure cuff width covers only 20% of the patient's upper arm circumference (an excessively narrow/small cuff). How will using an undersized cuff affect the recorded blood pressure reading?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. It will produce a falsely high blood pressure reading
- Step 1: Using a blood pressure cuff that is too small or too narrow requires excessive pneumatic pressure to compress the underlying brachial artery.
- Step 2: This results in an artificial overestimation of blood pressure, yielding falsely elevated systolic and diastolic measurements.
Answer
It will produce a falsely high blood pressure reading.
Why not the others: 'Falsely low reading' occurs when an oversized or overly wide cuff is used; 'Alters diastolic only' is incorrect as both systolic and diastolic pressures are falsely elevated; 'Zero effect' contradicts established physical principles of sphygmomanometry.
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