NURS 287 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Orthostatic Hypotension, Hypertensive Crisis, Cerebral Circulation
28 Apr 2013
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Document Summary
The primary nursing responsibilities for long-term management of hypertension are to assist the patient in reducing bp and complying with the treatment plan. Nursing actions include patient and family teaching, detection and reporting of adverse treatment effects, compliance assessment and enhancement, and evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness. A log of the bp measurements should be maintained by the patient. Devices that have memory or printouts of the readings are recommended to facilitate accurate reporting: a major problem in the long-term management of the patient with hypertension is poor compliance with the prescribed treatment plan. The prevalence of hypertension increases with age. The lifetime risk of developing hypertension is approximately 90% for middle-aged (age 55 to 65) and older (age >65) normotensive men and women. A number of age-related physical changes contribute to the pathophysiology of hypertension in the older adult. In some older people, there is a wide gap between the first korotkoff sound and subsequent beats (auscultatory gap).
