To think this nurse was unprofessional?

[ThisCoolOP]

So I went for an appointment at my GP surgery to try and verify the accuracy of two home blood pressure monitors we have in our house. The two monitors give virtually identical readings to each other for everyone in our family - but for my sister one reads 10 - 15 points lower than the other on thr systolic number.

During the appointment, my sister attempted to explain the situation and that she wanted to compare both machines against a manual reading. The nurse immediately told her to "just bin" one of the machines without any attempt to even compare it

The nurse then proceeded to only check one of the machines (the one that reads lower). When the machine displayed a reading of 150/100, she then performed a "manual check" and literally immediately stated "yeah 150/100". Might be just me, but this rapid confirmation seems like the nurse was simply just re-stating the reading she had seen on the machines screen (literally told me her reading was the exact same number) rather than conducting a genuine, independent manual verification. Her pre-judgement of which machine was correct was evident from the beginning, as she refused to consider checking the second machine, despite my clear explanation of the discrepancy of both machines for me, but identical readings for the rest of the family

As a result, I was left in the exact same position I was in before the appointment. I actually suffer from anxiety and came back in tears at how sharp and unhelpful she had been, and because it seemed she had made her mind up there and then she was only checking one machine and that was the correct one (despite them giving the same readings for everyone else), i don't trust what she told me at all

You used a GP appointment because you weren't sure if your blood pressure machines were working correctly??

Hi, I take blood pressure medication and had been getting very high readings on one the machines 170/100 as an example. The NHS website actually advises to contact the surgery for readings of that level. So i messaged on our online portal stating the problem is had, that one machine was giving very high readings and one low. It was one of the receptionist that booked the appointment

I am only shocked a Nurse would waste her time with you under these circumstances and I am a Nurse.

You weren't there and if your sister is anything like my sil it didn't happen that way.

why did she waste an appointment on something so trivial, did she test the machine home readings several times at different times of the day?

Blood pressure changes from one minute to the next. Both machines might be correct. You don’t need to use a nurse appointment for this. If your sister needs to know her blood pressure and doesn’t trust the machines she could get a BP check done at a pharmacy or buy a new BP machine.

On another note, has your sister made a GP appointment about her BP? That reading was a bit high.

There’s always the option of going to a pharmacist….

Why was your sister talking about her blood pressure at your appointment?

Just do 3 readings each time and take the average.

And no she wasn’t unprofessional probably just exasperated!

Do you have health anxiety?

I also think she should just throw the one away that’s giving her an unreliable reading.

With readings as high as 170/100, not really a waste of time

Indeed. I can’t believe they entertained you, op.

The probablem isn't the machine, or the nurse. The probablem is yours (or your sister's) BP is high. You're better off making a new appointment to address this and your medication rather then wasting time checking if the machines are accurate.

If you are really worried about their accuracy maybe scrap both and get 1 new one.

Thats the thing, we don't know which one is giving the inaccurate readings! If both machines were checked then we would know and actually be able to complete the 7 day monitoring form requested

I'd go to your local pharmacy. I had a machine on loan from the surgery as they wanted me to monitor my BP readings, then I bought my own. Not sure why people think it is unreasonable to go to surgery for support when they want you to monitor it.

But you are the one with hypertension? So why does it matter what reading your sister is getting?

Another person shocked they gave you a GP appointment for this, this is what a pharmacy can do.

Sounds like she did a manual check which confirmed one reading, why would she need to check the second machine?

She was trying to find out which one was inaccurate. That was the point.

The thing is, for everyone else in our family the machines are giving readings close to each other, for example I checked with both this afternoon and 132/85 on one machine, then 5 minutes later 130/84 on the other. My sister's top number is a much bigger difference 15- 20 points. So i don't think the machines are inaccurate, just for some reason they are on my sister

Throw them both away and buy a new machine

Hi, exactly. They've requested a 7 day diary, but if she notes down the readings from one machine it puts her in the stage 2 hypertension category. But the other puts her in the normal and sometimes low category

It was an appointment with one of the nurses they gave her, not with one of the GPs

Then your sister should have a gp appointment to explore if she has a blood pressure issue. What is absolutely inappropriate is expecting a nurse to test out your machines

Entertained me? Do you not think if a machine is reading at the level where the NHS website advises its extremely high and to contact your local surgery its important to actually get checked?

I'm confused whether it you or your sister who has to do the daily monitoring. Why do you have 2 machines that you're comparing anyway? This sounds anxiety based to be honest, are you getting support with that ? Could your sister go to the pharmacy /GPs which presumably will have a blood pressure machine in the corner to use ?