Hypertension and the 24-hour blood pressure monitor
RCSI heading: Teaching the junior student nurse. This topic is one of the current examples RCSI names for the station. You get 1 minute to think and 7 to teach, leaving time inside the ten-minute station for the assessor. The assessor marks what you teach and how. Check rcsi.com before your date.
Teach it
Out loud, standing, to an empty chair if you have to. Record yourself if you want to hear how much of the time you talked.
You are the staff nurse in a medical assessment unit. A second-year student is with you.
Mrs Fox, 58, has had two clinic readings of 152/94 and 148/92. The doctor has ordered a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor before starting any tablet.
The student asks: "Why not start her on treatment straight away? What is the monitor for?"
teach the student about high blood pressure, the numbers that define it, and how ambulatory and home monitoring work.
The pass: theory and OSCE
Teach every topic on the clock.
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Sources
- HSE, High blood pressure: symptoms and diagnosis (reviewed 3 January 2022) checked 2026-09-16
- HSE, High blood pressure: overview and living with checked 2026-09-16
- Mayo Clinic, How to measure blood pressure using an automatic monitor (RCSI reading list) checked 2026-09-16
- NMBI, Quality Clinical Learning Environment (page 6 on the RCSI list)
The situation is a practice piece written to the shape of the RCSI descriptors. It is not an exam task; the exam may name any topic from the reading list.
Something wrong or out of date? (Teaching hypertension-and-abpm)