Assessment of hypertensive patients' self-care agency after counseling training of nurses.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to assess hypertensive patients' self-care agency and any correlation with the patient's lifestyle changes and the nurse's degree of patient centeredness after counseling training.


METHODS
Nurses in the intervention group (IG; n = 19) working at nurse-led clinics at health centers were trained in patient centeredness (motivational interviewing) and the stages of change model and included 137 patients. Nurses in the control group (CG; n = 14) included 51 patients. The Exercise of Self-Care Agency (ESCA) instrument was used. There was a significant difference from baseline to the 2-year follow-up in the ESCA score (IG, p = .0001). An increase in ESCA score was correlated with an increased level of physical activity after 2 years (IG, p = .0001; CG, p = .040).


CONCLUSIONS
The counseling training gave an increase in the patients' self-care agency scores, which was significantly correlated with increased physical activity.


CONCLUSIONS
In clinical practice it is important for nurses to be patient centered in their counseling to affect patients' self-care agency in a positive direction.
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Eva
E
Drevenhorn
Institute of Health and Care Sciences, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Ann
A
Bengtson
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Per
P
Nyberg
Institute of Health and Care Sciences, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.|Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Karin I
KI
Kjellgren
D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000451:nursing* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009736:Nursing Process; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses'; D012648:Self Care; D013548:Sweden; D016896:Treatment Outcome
Counseling; Sweden; advanced practice nursing; hypertension; international; patient-centered care; self-care