Adherence To Jnc Vi Guidelines For Hypertension Management By Primary Care Nurse Practitioners

Although improvement in the detection and treatment of hypertension has occurred over the last two decades, the trends have stagnated over the last 5 years with a related increase in mortality from cardiac failure and an increased incidence of end-stage renal disease. Current researchers have made a strong argument that many health care providers have not been successfully managing hypertension at a level, as established by research, to prevent target organ disease over time. As health care providers, family nurse practitioners (FNPs) and adult nurse practitioners (ANPs) are managing hypertension in outpatient settings as primary care nurse practitioners (PCNPs). This descriptive study sought to answer two research questions: How effectively are PCNPs implementing the JNC VI guidelines for hypertension management in practice? And are PCNPs aware of the current national guidelines (JNC VI) for hypertension management? Ten critical factors/interventions were measured to evaluate compliance with the JNC VI guidelines and were analyzed with descriptive statistics of frequency. Data analysis revealed that the PCNPs in the study were noncompliant with the use of the JNC VI guidelines in practice and encouraged recommendations in PCNP education and practice for the future