Evaluation of consultation training in hypertension care.

Background: Nurses in hypertension care play an important role in minimising the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, but this care can be improved.

Aim: To evaluate the content of nurses' consultations with hypertensive patients before and after consultation training.

Methods: Nineteen nurses from a randomised study of nurse-led hypertension clinics at health centres received three days of residential training in patient-centred counselling and cardiovascular prevention. To assess the result, two consultations with hypertensive patients in clinical practice before and after the training were audio-recorded. Content analysis was used for the analysis.

Results: Diet and exercise were the most frequent topics in the consultations both before and after the training. Discussions about alcohol and the patient's responsibility for treatment increased after the training. The time spent talking about various issues, other health problems, history and appointment scheduling decreased in the consultations after the training.

Conclusion: After the consultation training, the nurses succeeded in emphasising important issues for risk factor control to a greater extent.