Use of and attitudes toward current care guidelines among primary and secondary care nurses in Finland

Attitudes toward, familiarity with, and use of clinical guidelines in general and the national Hypertension Guideline were studied. A questionnaire study was conducted before and after an educational program (VALTIT) among primary and secondary care nurses in Päijät-Häme, Finland. The program included centralized training sessions and interactive local workshops. Prior to the program, a majority of nurses had a positive attitude toward guidelines but used guidelines seldom. Primary care nurses were better aware of the Hypertension Guideline than secondary care nurses, but the guideline was poorly used by both groups. At the follow-up, familiarity with the Hypertension Guideline and use of guidelines increased among primary care nurses. In future, primary care nurses will have a more autonomous role in patient care and should participate in clinical guideline development and related research. Our study has shown they are a potential target of such interventions.