Abstract
Background. Although nutrition education for the prevention and management of hypertension is the responsibility of registered dieticians and nutritionist, nurses also play this role particularly because there are few registered dieticians. This study was conducted to assess final-year nursing students’ level of knowledge regarding the nutritional prevention and management of hypertension. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess their knowledge regarding the dietary management of hypertension. A total of 220 students completed a 21-item nutritional prevention and management of hypertension knowledge test. Results. Students’ knowledge about potential modifiable risk factors of hypertension such as excessive salt and alcohol intake was good. Less than half (44.5%) indicated that they will recommend an increased intake of potassium food sources to hypertensive patients. However, 70.5% incorrectly indicated that they will advise hypertensive patients to always read nutritional information on food items in order to avoid excessive intake of potassium in their diet. Conclusion. The results of this study indicate that there are some deficits in nursing students’ nutritional knowledge for managing hypertension. The findings suggest an urgent need to revise the nursing training curriculum in order to include practical information that can be applied by nursing students, after graduation.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
