Overview
Introduction
The blood pressure number gets attention; the presence or absence of acute organ injury determines the urgency.
The blood pressure number gets attention; the presence or absence of acute organ injury determines the urgency. A markedly elevated reading without acute target-organ damage is managed differently from the same reading accompanied by encephalopathy, myocardial ischemia, pulmonary oedema, or rapidly progressive renal failure. This distinction protects the patient from both errors: underreacting to a developing emergency and lowering pressure so quickly that the brain, heart, or kidneys lose perfusion. The RPN response is to recognize the threshold, reassess the patient, identify red flags, escalate within provincial and employer policy, and carry out prescribed treatment safely.