Educating Staff Members in an Outpatient Clinic on Hypertension Management

An educational module on hypertension was created in response to the recurring pattern of patient visits with hypertension and an observed knowledge gap among nursing staff in an outpatient clinic located in the southern United States. The educational module was patterned after Joint National Committee-8 and American College of Cardiology guidelines involving patient lifestyle modification and provided clinic staff with information on hypertension diagnosis and self-management for use in patient education. The module was reviewed by a panel of 3 experts who approved it for appropriateness and clarity of content and made one minor recommendation for revision. The education materials were modified to meet the panel\u27s recommendations and subsequently presented to 5 nursing staff members. Pre- and postmodule questionnaires were provided to the staff to determine the extent of their learning from the education program. Pretest results indicated that staff lacked information on the guidelines for treatment of hypertension. Posttest results indicated that all 5 participants found the module information useful for staff to use in educating patients on self-management of hypertension. Providing nursing staff with current evidence-based practice guidelines can increase staff nurse knowledge on hypertension management. Educating nursing staff has the potential to effect positive social change by empowering staff and patients to improve health care outcomes by enabling staff to coach patients on hypertension management using up-to-date evidence-based practice guidelines