Feeling someone's pulse

[snowqueen]

My friend is going back to work soon and will be expected to be able to check patients' pulses on a regular basis. She is trained to do this however when she was pregnant she found that she can feel a pulse in her own fingers so when checking someone's pulse she is really feeling her own! She knows this because if she places her fingers on any non-living object she can feel a pulse. She thought after the baby, it might not happen anymore but it still does.

Anyone else had any experience of this?

I would have thought that a patient's pulse would be more bounding than the pulse in her fingers, therefore she would be able differentiate.
Did she have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome during pregnancy by any chance? The resultant swelling in her fingers might make her more aware of her pulse. If she has this condition still she may not be fit to return to work. She may need physiotherapy or ultimately minor surgery. Just a thought.

No she didn't have carpal tunnel syndrome. She did find her rings no longer fit but that didn't seem to be fluid retention, she just put on weight everywhere including her fingers and they are still bigger now, maybe that's something to do with it

Could it be linked to her blood pressure? Was it high during pregnancy??

No, only at one check it was quite high but the midwife went back and checked later that day and it was back down again