Test Prep Blog for the Medical Assistant test

One of the most common tasks you will need to perform as a medical assistant is obtaining vital signs. While many healthcare facilities have automatic blood pressure machines, knowing how to take a manual blood pressure is still important. What is Blood Pressure? Before you take a patient’s blood pressure it’s important to understand what it is. Blood pressure is a measurement of the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body. It is expressed in two numbers: the systolic pressure (the top number) and the diastolic pressure (the b...