Empowering Nursing Skills: Hypertension and Its Control
High blood pressure is a significant global health concern because it poses life-threating risks to people’s health. It is crucial to understand what hypertension is and how to manage it in everyday practice as a nurse to be able to offer the best care and support to patients. Thus, this article will discuss a brief about hypertension including the causes, clinical manifestation, diagnosis, approach to management, and patient education all toward enhancing knowledge and skills among nursing professionals.
Understanding Hypertension
Hypertension is a circumstance whereby the stress of the blood pushing on the walls of the arteries remains high. Blood pressure readings are given in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and include two numbers: systole, which is pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts, and diastole which is pressure in the arteries between two successive contractions of the heart. A normal blood pressure is below 120/80 millimeters of mercury abbreviated as mm Hg. Hypertension is normally defined as BP that is equal to or higher than 130/80 mm Hg.
Causes of Hypertension
Hypertension can be classified into two types: They include; essential hypertension and secondary hypertension.
1. Primary Hypertension: This is by far the most prevalent type of hypertension, which is characterized by high blood pressure but has no specific cause. It is a chronic disease that takes a long time to manifest itself and new factors that are genetic and lifestyle associated affect it.
2. Secondary Hypertension: This type is brought about by a disease and always presents itself at the first instance. Any of the following can be considered secondary causes of hypertension; kidney diseases, adrenal gland tumors, thyroid disorders, congenital abdominal aortic coarctation, medications, illicit drugs, and chronic alcohol abuse.
Risk Factors
Several factors increase the risk of developing hypertension: Several factors increase the risk of developing hypertension:
1• Age: Hypertension is associated with age as people age, the risk of having hypertension will also rise.
2• Family History: This is because hypertension might also run in your family or expose an individual to other risks that eventually lead to impotence.
3• Obesity: Overweight and obesity raise the demand for blood flow to tissues requiring oxygen and nutrients, therefore, applying more pressure to arteries.
4• Lack of Physical Activity: A lifestyle that involves the lack of physical exercise contributes to hypertension.
5• Tobacco Use: As simple as smoking or chewing tobacco causes an immediate rise in blood pressure and an unhealthy condition of the arterial walls.
6• High Salt Intake: It was also found that high sodium intake can result in to build-up of fluids in the body and hence high blood pressure.
7• Low Potassium Intake: Potassium also regulates sodium in cells; if they get scanty is linked to high blood pressure.
8• Excessive Alcohol Consumption: This is because taking a lot of alcohol contributes to the rise in blood pressure and ails the heart.
9• Stress: This normally raises temporarily the blood pressure as a result of high stress levels.
Symptoms of Hypertension
Hypertension is commonly referred to as the “silent killer” because the condition does not exhibit symptoms until the damage to the heart, kidneys and other vital organs is already grave. Some people can initially have dull headaches, dizziness, or perhaps one or two more nosebleeds than usual but most of these symptoms do not appear until hypertension has become severe or life-threatening to the patient.
Diagnosis
Blood pressure when low or high is not determined by a single reading it requires several readings over time. Nurses are also described as central to this process. Here are the steps involved: Here are the steps involved:
1. Blood Pressure Measurement: A properly calibrated and validated device should be used to obtain the blood pressure. The patient should be comfortable in a chair that supports his or her back and has both feet touching the floor. During the measurement, the arm should be positioned at heart level, and the patient must not talk.
2. Patient History and Physical Examination: As part of the assessment, it is necessary to obtain the patient’s history and perform a physical examination to investigate potential secondary causes of hypertension and target organ damage.
3. Laboratory Tests and Imaging: CBC, lipid panel, and kidney function profile can be done to look for secondary causes for the hypertension besides assessing the target organ damage by an ECG or echocardiogram.
Treatment of Hypertension
Hypertension control entails lifestyle changes and the medicinal use of antihypertensive drugs.
Lifestyle Modifications
1. Dietary Changes: Educate the patient to adopt what has been referred to as the DASH diet including high fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, lean meats, and fish, and low intake of fats, cholesterol, and sodium.
2. Physical Activity: Counsel patients to perform at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise eg brisk walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming.
3. Weight Management: To enhance doctoral students’ medical practice proposal, they needed to work with other health professions students to encourage and facilitate patients to adopt healthy weight loss and management measures which include exercise and nutrition.
4. Smoking Cessation: Educate the patient on methods such as smoking cessation, and give tools and relevant information to the patient.
5. Limiting Alcohol Intake: Inform patients that moderate alcohol intake is possible; however, no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men.
6. Stress Management: Recommend to patients to take some forms of exercise that will help to reduce their level of stress such as Yoga, meditation, deep breathing exercises, etc.
Pharmacological Interventions
Even if dietary and other general behavioral changes are applied, there might be a need to use medicine. Several classes of antihypertensive medications are available, each with different mechanisms of action: Several classes of antihypertensive medications are available, each with different mechanisms of action:
1. Diuretics: Facilitate the kidney to excrete sodium and water, thus lowering the blood volume.
2. Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors: Narrow blood vessels are constricted but without a natural chemical that narrows blood vessels and this is done by blocking the formation of the chemical.
3. Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs): Lowering high blood pressure by preventing a natural substance from constricting the blood vessels.
4. Calcium Channel Blockers: The drug causes relaxation of the muscles of the blood vessels and reduction of the heart rate.
5. Beta Blockers: Lower the demand on the heart and the vessels causing fewer, and less forceful contractions of the heart.
6. Alpha Blockers: Dampen the signals that cause the constriction of blood vessels.
7. Centrally Acting Agents: Lower the brain’s messages to the nervous system to constrict blood vessels.
Patient Education
Hypertension prevention and control entails identifying all possible risk factors and providing the patients with knowledge of the condition. Nurses should focus on the following areas: Nurses should focus on the following areas:
1. Understanding Hypertension: What is hypertension? What are the possible consequences that may arise due to the condition? Why is it necessary to promptly and properly manage the condition?
2. Blood Pressure Monitoring: Explain to patients self, the monitoring of blood pressure and documentation of the same.
3. Medication Adherence: Stress the need to take their prescribed medications even if they do not feel ill and explain possible side effects and what should be done if side effects are noticed.
4. Lifestyle Modifications: Offer concrete suggestions on how the transition to more health-promoting behaviors and the success of these changes can be achieved including the use of alternative methods of nutrition, physical activity, smoking cessation, and moderate alcohol use.
5. Recognizing Symptoms: Instruct patients about the symptoms of hypertensive crisis and when they should go to the hospital.
6. Managing Stress: Suggest patients come up with an exercise stress combating mechanisms.
7. Regular Check-ups: Emphasize the need to have a periodic medical check-up to keep monitoring the blood pressure besides checking for complications.
Nurses in the Management of Hypertension
Thus, the level of knowledge, skills, and experience of nurses directly affects the management of hypertension both in prevention and in direct patient care. Here are some key responsibilities: Here are some key responsibilities:
1. Assessment and Monitoring: Record and measure the patient’s blood pressure often, recording the new values and comparing them to the previous values.
2. Patient Education: Educate clients on hypertension of their condition and its consequences, and work out strategies for managing the condition.
3. Medication Management: Help patients to identify and appreciate dosage, timing, and contraindications useful where, when, and which form of medication they should take. Promote compliance and check for problems that users may be facing.
4. Lifestyle Counseling: Provide guidelines and assistance in creating lasting behavior modifications that help manage high blood pressure including what to eat or not eat, exercising, quitting smoking, etc.
5. Support and Motivation: Continued encouragement to patients to maintain goals and goals in the plan of treatment and changed behaviors.
6. Coordination of Care: Collaborate with other colleagues in the healthcare profession to ensure care is coordinated particularly if the patient has such conditions or diseases.
7. Advocacy: Be an advocate for the patient’s needs to ensure that those the patient may need to get by are provided to them.
Conclusion
Hypertension is a major health challenge, and thus, needs to be well managed with a view of avoiding severe consequences. Nurses, in particular, hold significant authority to influence patients diagnosed with hypertension and create a proper treatment plan for them. Thus, by learning about the condition, getting acquainted with the current treatment recommendations, and offering your patients all the essential information and support, you will help your patients improve their quality of life and prevent hypertension complications.
Thus, as a health care provider, you should focus on such aspects as education, counseling, and patient support in case of hypertension to enhance their QoL and, therefore, health-related quality of life. Achieving mastery in the conventional nursing practice in hypertensive patients empowers you as a nurse and your patients, as well as fosters career enrichment. Please remain committed; remain educated, and soldier on in this fight against hypertension.
