One of my nurses called me recently worried about a patient’s blood pressure.  The patient had just recently arrived at the jail and had no complaints, but when his blood pressure was measured, it was 230/120.  The patient otherwise felt fine and had no complaints, but the nurse was concerned that the blood pressure was dangerously high and we needed to give the patient something to get this blood pressure down right away.  My nurse had been taught that such patients had a “Hypertensive Urgency” and needed to be given a medication that would immediately lower their blood pressure. Continue reading →