A 45-year-old patient who is alert and oriented has a blood pressure of 98/66 mm Hg, radial pulse of 76 beats/min (irregular), and respirations of 18 breaths/min (regular). The best nursing intervention is to:

The correct answer, indicated as A. Rationale: Checking the patient's baseline blood pressure helps to determine if the current reading of 98/66 mm Hg is normal for them or if it represents a significant change. This may not be necessary if the blood pressure is normal for the patient. Hypotension is relative, and what is considered low for one person might be normal for another. While checking medications is a good practice, it should be done after determining if there is a significant change from the baseline. The irregular pulse could be due to various factors, including medications, but the first step is to understand the patient's normal range. The patient's pulse is 76 beats/min, which is not bradycardic (bradycardia is defined as a heart rate less than 60 beats/min). Therefore, notifying the doctor of bradycardia is not appropriate in this case.