Patient Education to Increase Self-Blood Pressure Monitoring Understanding and Cardiac Awareness

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the DNP quality improvement (QI) project was to create an educational seminar to improve participant awareness of hypertension, mitigate hypertension risks, and encourage self-blood pressure monitoring (SBPM).Background: Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Hypertension is considered a critical risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and heart disease. An estimated 1.28 billion adults aged 30-79 are affected with hypertension. SBPM is one way to address poorly controlled hypertension. Methods: An educational seminar about hypertension and self-blood pressure monitoring was provided at a primary care site. A recruitment flyer and handouts were given to patients with hypertension to invite them to join the QI project. The 30-minute seminar included a PowerPoint presentation on the poor cardiovascular outcomes associated with hypertension and why and how to perform SBPM. A post-survey was used to evaluate participant’s increased understanding of hypertensive outcomes and SBPM. Results: There were eight participants on the seminar date. There was improved knowledge about hypertension and the risk of uncontrolled blood pressure. Participants strongly agreed that they better understood self-blood pressure monitoring. The post-survey also indicated that patients were satisfied with the seminar and intended to use SBPM at home. Conclusions: In this quality improvement (QI) project, an educational seminar about SBPM improved patients’ knowledge about the intervention and risk factors associated with uncontrolled hypertension. The responses from the project were positive and impacted participants’ intent to use SBPM.