Final answer:
Before administering blood pressure medication, measure the patient's blood pressure to establish a baseline for comparison and assess medication effectiveness. Use a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, and be aware of fluctuations throughout the day.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before giving a blood pressure medication, always ensure to assess the patient's current blood pressure. This approach is crucial because you need to establish a baseline to track the effectiveness of the medication. The procedure involves using a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope to measure the systolic and diastolic pressures, giving a reading such as 120/80, which is spoken as "one twenty over eighty." Blood pressure can fluctuate due to various factors such as stress, hydration, or time of day. Therefore, consistently measuring and recording blood pressure is important for ongoing management and adjusting medications if necessary. Moreover, a doctor aiming to ascertain the efficacy of a medication may perform a test involving pre and post-medication blood pressure readings, like in an experiment that observes changes due to biofeedback exercise programs.
For instance, one might test the hypothesis that systolic blood pressure has decreased due to the medication by using a statistical analysis at the 1 percent significance level and comparing the before-and-after systolic readings of subjects.