Educating nurses in blood pressure measurement and hypertension control

Today, self-measurement of blood pressure is seen as the optimal goal in improving the compliance of the hypertensive patient, but it can only be reached by using well trained medical staff. In this, the role of nurses is particularly vital. We administered a questionnaire to 77 nurses and 146 doctors to determine their levels of knowledge concerning blood pressure measurement techniques and pitfalls, and definition of hypertension. The general knowledge of both groups was insufficient. Whereas doctors showed greater medical knowledge, nurses were better at the techniques. Both were equally deficient in defining hypertension. We therefore set up a short course (3h) in blood pressure measurement to evaluate knowledge and provide further training. The course consisted of a pretest, a short training programme and a post-training test. Post-training test results showed an average improvement in defining hypertension from 5% to 85%. We conclude that short-term training courses in blood pressure measurement are needed for nurses and doctors, particularly young doctors. We also need more coverage in the medical press to stimulate interest in this vital topic.