Preliminary experience with a hospital blood pressure follow up clinic with nurse practitioner assessment and microprocessor based data retrieval.
Experience over two years with 376 hypertensive patients managed at a clinic where the primary observations are made by a trained nurse, clinical information is held on a microprocessor, and treatment follows a standard stepped care approach has been assessed. Blood pressure control after both one and two years was appreciably improved, with over 70% of patients having diastolic pressure below 90 mm Hg compared with 22% of patients when they first attended the new clinic. The non-attendance rate was half that of the conventional hospital outpatient clinic. A computer based record system with a nurse run hypertension clinic is acceptable to patients and offers the possibility of more effective long term control of blood pressure in large numbers of patients.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008499:Medical Records; D008838:Microcomputers; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012606:Scotland; D000078329:Workforce