EVALUATION OF THE BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING KNOWLEDGE OF THE NURSES WHO ARE WORKING IN A MEDICAL FACULTY HOSPITAL

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the right knowledge of blood pressure measurement of the nurses who working in clinics. Materials and Method: 103 nurses who are working in Meram Medical Faculty Hospital were included to this descriptive study. Sampling method was stratified proportional random sampling method, with strata for the number of nurses at clinics. A questionnaire, which was formed of some questions about standard measuring methods of blood pressure, was applied to the nurses. Results: It was determined that 55.3% to 98.1% of the nurses answered the most of the questions correctly. But, they gave different answers to the questions about choosing the arm for measurement, inflation level of the cuff, deflation speed and how many measurements should be done for true result. It was found that the female nurses had much more knowledge about the tension of wrapping the cuff around the arm and the correct positioning of the stethescope than the male ones. Oppositely, the male nurses had higher correct answer rate about deflation of the cuff than the female nurses. Conclusion: It was concluded that the knowledge of blood pressure measurement of the nurses was partly insufficient. Periodical educational studies should be done for the nurses to complete the blood pressure measurement knowledge of them.