Every antihypertensive works by making blood pressure fall — the nursing question is whether it falls only where you want it to. Pick a drug, then walk the patient from lying to standing and watch what the cuff, the pulse, and the patient tell you.
Supine · lying flat 5 minutes
blood pooled in the legs · a pale head means cerebral perfusion is falling. Same arm, arm supported at heart level, every reading.
Positive test: SBP falls ≥ 20 mmHgor DBP falls ≥ 10 mmHg within 3 minutes of standing.
The orthostatic checkpick a drug, then step through the positions