Abstract

Hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular morbidity as well as mortality, and nonadherence to medications has consistently posed significant challenges to the effective management of blood pressure and poses avoidable risks. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to determine whether a structured medication adherence education session could enhance adherence in adult hypertension patients in a primary care clinic. As per the Health Belief Model and Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice framework, a quantitative descriptive pre-test/post-test was employed. The baseline adherence was assessed by using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8), and then a 15-minute telephone education was provided based on hypertension risks, benefits of adherence, strategies against barriers, and self-monitoring of blood pressure. Adherence was re-evaluated after four weeks of intervention with the help of MMAS-8, data were analyzed with paired sample t-tests.

Findings showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the medication adherence scores between the pre-intervention (M = 4.6, SD = 1.2) and post-intervention (M = 6.2, SD = 1.1) conditions, t(15) = 4.21, p = .001, and the education intervention had a positive effect on medication-taking behavior. The results indicated that personalized, theory-oriented nurse-centered education could be effective in overcoming the behavioral barriers like forgetfulness, misunderstandings, and worries about side effects. The intervention was of low financial cost and showed an effective possibility of improving healthcare utilization and preventing complications. Clinical implications refer to the need to incorporate formal education of adherence into regular chronic disease care to improve patient involvement, population health, and the quality improvement agenda. This project was consistent with AACN Essentials competencies in evidence-based practice, quality and safety, and population health, showing that sustainable, low-cost nursing interventions can lead to substantial improvements in hypertension patients.

Description

Virginia Lynn Waters, PhD., MBA, MSN, CNE-BC - Project Chair

Gabriela Quintana, DNP, ARNP, MSN, MBA, LSSGB - Mentor

Author Details

Alexis Rodriguez, DNP(c), BSN, RN - Nova Southeastern University DNP graduate student

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quality Improvement

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Hypertension, Medication Adherence, Nurse-led Education, Patient Education, Patient Compliance

Advisor

Virginia Lynn Waters

Second Advisor

Gabriela Quintana

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Nova Southeastern University

Degree Year

2026

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2026-05-14

Full Text of Presentation

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