Nursing and hypertension?

What is the role of a nurse in caring for a patient with hypertension? (what does a nurse do?)

For one thing, they monitor the blood pressure.

Educate the pt about salt in the diet and how to limit salt intake without sacrificing palatable-ness.

Educate the pt to listen to their body. Some people can tell when their BP is high before they even take their BP. Headaches and dizziness are common symptoms. Sometimes edematous feet or ankles.

If they are taking BP medicine, it would be important to educate the pt re their meds, what the medication does, and the importance of following the instructions.

They should be seen by their MD more frequently than annually because of potential of organ failure (heart, kidney, etc.) and of course, the potential for stroke is higher.

OR
You could offer to pray with them and for them. Can't hurt and may help.

Education, Assessment, Evaluation, Monitoring, Symptom management but mainly.....education. You teach them about risk factors, signs and symptoms, treatment, how to manage their illness, what to look for, when to go to the hospital, how to monitor they're own blood pressure and keep a record, you also teach them about their medications, diet, stress, etc...

Texas sweety also can explain that hypertensives must get their kidney and retina checked for early signs of nephropathy and retinopathy.