To think this nurse was unprofessional?

This OP. Look for trends in results

I wouldn't personally trust this nurse myself either after telling you to bin one before checking either machine, so I'd be reporting the machine reading very high also to be on the safe side. You can't take chances with BP

@ThisCoolOP - if I were you, I would stick to the machine that the nurse cross checked against her own manual BP measurement. This will, at the very least, give you a consistent measurement, so you will be able to see if your BP is falling or rising.

And regardless of which machine you are using, I would report any very high results to the surgery (if you aren’t already doing this, of course).

In disbelief at some of the comments OP has received in this thread!

My DH has high blood pressure and our surgery were more than happy to check two machines giving him different readings. Good job they did!

Someone in here suggested that the nurse had maybe told OP to bin a machine because they had more experience in a brand being more accurate:

DH had a cheapo machine purchased on Amazon and a clinically validated branded Omron machine. Guess which was correct?... The cheapo machine from Amazon! The Omron had him with severe low blood pressure and the cheapo severe high. After a 24h machine from the GP, he was found to have severe high blood pressure - so you cannot just assume because of a brand name and I don't blame OP for not being filled with confidence by this nurse's clear as day pre-judgement!

Hope you're okay OP xx

The nurse checked your sister’s BP independently and confirmed which machine was more accurate for your sister.

As far as I understand from your many MANY posts, this was YOUR machine and not your sister’s?

does your sister have her own machine?

We have to monitor OH blood pressure all the time for our GP and use an Omron one.
This is the one our surgery recommended - they offered us a loan but as it was going to be a long term thing we thought it best to get our own. It is consistent with our GP.
I would either go with the one the nurse said or buy a new one.
Its a shame you've had such unkind remarks - I dont think people sometimes realise how critical these readings are to other conditions.

Calibrating and servicing a BP machine is not the remit of a nurse, home bought machines the maker usually recommends returning every two years for re calibrating and servicing.

Unconspicable??? obsolete adjective possibly, I didn't say that, I cant find that definition in the Oxford English Dictionary, I said it was an unconscionable waste.

If you need to check your BP monitor send it off to be titrated. The makers website has details.

Why do you have 2 machines anyway? One is sufficient then you wouldn’t have needed to waste the nurses time trying to check which machine is giving the correct reading.

Given some else had this issue - could it be the nurse knew which brand was more reliable and was just confirming that one was working correctly ie agreeing with her taken reading ?

So there was no reason to test the second machine - which was likely the probelm all along.

If your still worried I'd have a chat with local pharmacist see if they do a blood pressure reading near your sister and see what they get - and see if there is a model for home mointoring they'd recommend or follow *SnailFarmingForCats *advice and get a new Omron machine and use that one.

you are absolutely correct. I am shocked at some of these responses to this thread. It is the role of GP and their staff to support patients in self care . Of course the OP can ask to have her machine calibrated against the surgery machine, it's standard practice. If the OP is confused it is the job of the practice nurse to explain it so she is not. Nurses and Drs in GP surgeries are not underpaid, they are not saints and their wages are paid by the taxpayer who have a right to expect a reasonable service. Frankly if some of the people purporting to be a nurse here had worked for me and expressed these attitudes they would have been carpeted so quickly that there feet and heads would be spinning.

The way to tell which machine is correct is to go to your surgery reception area and use the big old blood pressure machine in the waiting area. Then 5 minutes later try one home blood pressure machine, then five minutes later try the other home blood pressure machine. You could test each machine a few time if needed until you’re confident about which machine is most accurate

Can you not see you're doing exactly what you accused the poor nurse of? You made up your mind that she wasn't going to check the machine properly, because she knew off the bat which one would be wrong, and won't budge from that position. This is like when cheaters are paranoid about their partners. Her real crime is not pandering enough to your health anxiety.

Complaning about her would be absolutely disgusting behaviour.

I await my copy and pasted response about how the nurse told you to bin one before even looking blah blah blah.

OP, feel free to report any nasty or rude comments if you need too. I hope you get the situation sorted soon.

Why are you ‘just going to have to pick one and hope it’s right’ ? It’s perfectly simple. The nurse has taken a blood pressure reading manually and calibrated one home machine as accurate to her manual reading. So whichever machine that is, that’s the one to use. The fact that she didn’t check the other one is irrelevant - her own manual reading was accurate and you’ve now got one machine calibrated to that. I really don’t see the problem OP.

This. I really don’t understand what the problem is. The nurse did a manual reading and checked one monitor against it. It was accurate so that’s the one to use.

Just going to have to pick one and hope its right

You're not "just going to have to pick one". You use the one that the nurse compared manually and said is giving the correct reading.

Just going to have to pick one and hope its right

You're not "just going to have to pick one". You use the one that the nurse compared manually and said is giving the correct reading.

Yes - and whose appointment actually was it?

A sphygmomanometer requires accurate placing and inflation of the cuff, identification of the brachial artery and a knowledge of how to properly identify the sounds of blood flow in the artery, to measure systolic and diastolic pressures. Manual monitors are only recommended for use with clinical training.

OP I agree that some of the comments are unnecessary and unfair here, but I don’t understand your problem with the nurse. If she took your blood pressure manually and then did it with one of your own machines and it was the same, then clearly that’s the machine you use. Ditch the other one.

Agree. TBH we’ve had several BP machines issued by our surgery to monitor DH’s blood pressure. They were all absolute rubbish and none lasted more than a few months before needing to be replaced. In the end I bought our own - much more reliable. Same with blood glucose monitors - cheapest of the cheap and wouldn’t calibrate properly. I understand the financial constraints of the NHS, but if they’re going to issue equipment like this for home use, it needs to be accurate and reliable, and in my experience it’s not.

This is just daft. OP was asked to bring the machines into the surgery to check.

Might interest you to know that our surgery issues blood pressure machines and blood glucose monitors to those with long term conditions - one of which is my DH. The standard advice is that if you get odd or inconsistent readings, or have any doubts about the accuracy of the equipment, to ring the surgery and they will make an appointment for you to bring it in to get it checked. So many people on this thread clearly don’t understand the services offered or the importance of the monitoring equipment being well maintained and accurate.

Just going to have to pick one and hope its right, but just worry if it really is low and they are treating high then going to be knocked even lower and vice versa.

But this is her doctor's responsibility, isn't it? He should be monitoring her BP.