Nurses’ knowledge of hypertension care and associated factors in the northern region of Ghana

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is the main risk factor for cardiovascular-related morbidities and mortalities. Nurses play a pivotal role in hypertension care, encompassing screening, detection, management, patient education and self-management counselling. Aim: This study assessed nurses' knowledge of hypertension care and associated factors in the Northern Region of Ghana. Setting: Tamale Metropolis of the Northern Region of Ghana. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses. Using a census approach, 410 eligible nurses working in hypertension care across the study hospitals were invited to participate. Of these, 266 consented and completed a self-reported validated questionnaire. The IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences programme version 30 was used to process the data and perform descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mean hypertension care knowledge score was 51.47± 11.76. About 4 had good knowledge, 57.1 average knowledge, and 38.7 had poor knowledge. While nurses demonstrated good knowledge of accurate blood pressure measurement (82.4), their knowledge of hypertension diagnosis (35.1) and management (48.8) was poor. The following were significantly associated with overall knowledge of hypertension care: hospital of practice (p = 0.021), age (p = 0.007), nursing category (p = 0.002), qualification (p = 0.001), years of practice in the present unit (p = 0.021) and hypertension in-service training (p = 0.027). Conclusion: This study revealed significant gaps in nurses' knowledge of hypertension care and highlighted the need for continuous professional development to bridge knowledge gaps and sustain clinical competence. Contribution: The study provided evidence on nurses' knowledge of hypertension care in Ghana, which can inform the development of tailored interventions to improve management and patient outcomes.