Blue Band Initiative
This initiative uses a visual alert to help staff rapidly identify patients at risk for hypertensive complications.
What is the Blue Band Initiative?
Hypertension in pregnancy is defined as blood pressure at or above this value.
What is ≥140/90 mmHg?
Hypertension diagnosed before 20 weeks or persisting beyond 12 weeks postpartum.
What is chronic hypertension?
Most deaths from preeclampsia and eclampsia occur during this period after birth.
What is after hospital discharge and within 42 days postpartum?
This action is automatically triggered when a pregnant or postpartum patient has BP ≥140/90 in the ED.
What is an OPA alert?
Patients with these conditions may receive and wear the blue band for up to 6 weeks postpartum.
What are chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, or preeclampsia?
Severe‑range hypertension in pregnancy or postpartum begins at this threshold.
What is ≥160/110 mmHg?
New‑onset hypertension after 20 weeks without severe features or end‑organ findings.
What is gestational hypertension?
Nearly 1 in this many new mothers may develop hypertension in the year after delivery.
What is eight (1 in 8)?
After the first elevated BP, this must be done within 10 minutes.
What is repeating the blood pressure?
The band is especially important in these clinical settings to prompt timely assessment and escalation of care.
What are the Emergency Department and Labor & Delivery?
If an automatic BP shows a severe reading, this should be done to confirm accuracy.
What is rechecking with a manual cuff?
Hypertension after 20 weeks or postpartum with severe features such as headache, vision changes, or abnormal labs.
What is preeclampsia?
A common misconception is that preeclampsia resolves once this happens.
What is delivery of the baby and placenta?
When criteria are met, nursing selects this lab set from Quicklists.
What is the preeclampsia lab panel?
Grant funds purchased approximately this many blue bands for the initiative.
What is 2,000 bands?
If manual and automatic readings differ by more than this amount, use the manual cuff going forward.
What is >8 mmHg?
When severe, this condition is a medical emergency.
What is preeclampsia with severe features?
After delivery, endothelial damage and vascular instability do this rather than resolve immediately.
What is persist?
The goal time to treat severe‑range hypertension in the ED.
What is within 60 minutes?
Two states that have implemented similar programs and report lower maternal morbidity and mortality.
What are Minnesota and Washington?
A single elevated blood pressure is not adequate for this.
What is making a clinical diagnosis/decision?
Preeclampsia is best described as this type of disease, not just a pregnancy problem.
What is a vascular disease?
At CRMC, readmissions for postpartum preeclampsia have done this in recent years.
What is increased significantly?
If ED providers are tied up, this communication method can initiate OB involvement and begin admission.
What is a charge RN to charge RN call?