Nurses managing high blood pressure in patients with diabetes in community pharmacies

Physicians in the Edmonton, Alberta, area may soon have some help in identifying and managing blood pressure. The study SCRIP-HTN aims to evaluate the effect of a community-based nurse and pharmacist active screening team on blood pressure management in patients with diabetes. The primary outcome measure is blood pressure change over six months. As of March 2007, this randomized control trial has been completed and is currently being analyzed. Recent studies suggest that as few as one in eight people with diabetes have their blood pressure controlled (McLean, Simpson, McAlister, & Tsuyuki, 2006b), and that one of the major barriers to control is that patients simply do not see their physician (Hutchison, Abelson, Woodward, & Norman, 1996). Nurses have the knowledge, skills and caring, as well as breadth and diversity to contribute to client care management of hypertension. Nurses are often a critical conduit of high-quality health information within their families, neighbourhoods and communities. Nurses have an excellent opportunity to proactively affect the care and outcomes of patients with diabetes that are hypertensive.