Awareness of hypertension guidelines in Taiwanese nurses: A questionnaire survey

BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Nurses play an important role in hypertension prevention and management because of their unique positions in patient education. However, the effectiveness of patient education relies largely on the nurse's level of awareness of the current hypertension guidelines. The purpose of this study was to examine the level of awareness of hypertension guidelines and associated factors among nurses in Taiwan. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 10 hospitals in northern Taiwan. The Hypertension Management Questionnaire was developed based on the Taiwan Hypertension Guidelines and the seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. RESULTS: The survey return rate was 95.9%. A total of 1418 nurses were included in the analysis. Adequate guideline awareness was found in 49.5% of the total sample. Among the 7 dimensions of the Hypertension Management Questionnaire, the definition of hypertension, methods for blood pressure measurements, and impact of high blood pressure on cardiovascular disease had the lowest rates of correct answers. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the nurses' clinical experience, educational level, work setting, in-service education training on hypertension, and level of the hospital (R = 35.4%, F = 52.89, P <.001) independently predicted the nurse's level of awareness. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of the nurses in northern Taiwan had insufficient knowledge of the hypertension guidelines.