Hypertension update: highlights from the 1993 national report

This article summarizes the highlights of the 1993 Report of the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. These guidelines provide nurses and patients with important information about therapies for hypertension (e.g. lifestyle modification and pharmacologic therapy); treatment for specific populations (e.g. black, young, pregnant, and elderly patients); and, factors which cause hypertension (e.g. cocaine, lithotripsy, cyclosporine, and erythropoietin). This article addresses antihypertensive drugs and provides an algorithm for the treatment of hypertension. The implications for nurses in view of these new guidelines are also presented.