Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Deborah Lewis

Abstract

For health care practitioners to effectively manage hypertension (HTN) patients and their related long- and short-term consequences, they must first identify the underlying cause of the disease. When patient interventions are not regularly implemented by clinicians, the likelihood of complications from HTN increases. A gap in staff knowledge on managing patients with HTN was identified in an outpatient clinic in the midwestern United States. A staff education program for health care providers to close the knowledge gap was developed based on the most recent Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guidelines for the management of HTN. The aim of this project was to explore the impact of an evidence-based staff education program on increasing clinical personnel’s awareness of the management of HTN. The health promotion model played a critical role in guiding the project’s development and implementation. Three expert stakeholders endorsed the project, agreeing that the educational program and content, when applied to clinical practice, would increase staff understanding of the management and diagnosis of HTN. Ten clinical staff members participated in the education program, first completing a pretest questionnaire and then viewing a PowerPoint presentation outlining the educational program’s content. The participants completed posttest questionnaires to assess their knowledge following the PowerPoint presentation. Posttest results suggested that staff knowledge grew due to a learning gain from the program’s original baseline. The project has the potential for positive social change when evidence from the staff education is translated into practice, resulting in improved patient management for the treatment of HTN.

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