Development and evaluation of a nurse-led hypertension management model in a community: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Abstract

This study aims to develop a nurse-led hypertension management model in the community setting and pilot it to an experimental trial. A total of 73 recruited participants were randomly allocated into two groups. The study group received a home visit and 2-4 telephone follow-ups from the trained community nurses assisted by nursing student volunteers. The control group received doctor-led hypertension management. Data was collected at recruitment and immediately after the 8-week program. Outcome measures included blood pressure readings, self-care adherence, self-efficacy, quality of life, and patient satisfaction. Participants from the study group led by nurses had significant improvement in self-care adherence, patient satisfaction post-intervention than those from the control group led by doctors. However, there were no statistical significant differences in blood pressure readings, quality of life and self-efficacy between the two groups. The findings show that the nurse-led hypertension management appears to be a promising way to manage hypertensive patients at the community level, particularly when the healthcare system is better integrated.