The nurse's role and skills in hypertension care: a review

The aim of this review was to examine studies on nursing in hypertension care to find out the nurse's role and skills. Articles were searched during the period 1966-1997. About 650 abstracts were read, and 148 were selected for examination. Forty-two articles were judged to be relevant for the study. The role of the nurse in programs was described as that of a team member, an educator in nonpharmacological treatment, and a translator for the physician with a holistic and psychosocial approach. A nurse participating in hypertension care promoted blood pressure reductions as the patients decreased their weight and sodium intake, stopped smoking, increased their physical activity, took their medication more correctly, and returned for follow-up visits more frequently, and the cost of drugs and visits to the physician decreased. Local programs for hypertension care should be developed with nurses' holistic and psychosocial approach and skills taken into account. More well-designed studies are needed to develop nursing care for hypertensive patients.