Magnet Nursing Research Highlighted
UVa's magnet nurses do groundbreaking research that affects everyday patient care. Two recent projects looked at some of nursing's most common practices: taking blood pressure and taking temperature. UVa now has video news stories available to highlight these studies.
R.N Melly Turner led a study to determine the most accurate way of taking a patient's blood pressure. Although it's typical for a patient to rush to make an appointment on time and then sit on a table covered with crinkly white paper to have his or her blood pressure read, Turner and her colleagues found that systolic blood pressure readings could be an average of 14 points higher when taken under these conditions. To receive an accurate reading, patients should sit in a chair with their backs supported and feet flat on the floor for five minutes before their blood pressure is taken.
Click here to view a video news story about Turner's research.
Beth Quatrara, RN, MSN, APRN, coordinated a project that found that consuming hot or cold beverages can affect a patient's temperature reading by one or two degrees. Study participants who consumed cold beverages required 15 minutes for their temperatures to return to baseline, while those consuming hot beverages needed 23 minutes.
Click here to view a video news story about Quatrara's research.
For more information about the video news stories, contact Abena Foreman-Trice at (434) 243-2734.