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Monday,
Sep 27 - AWHONN's Block Party
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Title: Developing a Cardiovascular Risk Screening Program for Women
Discipline: Women’s Health (WH), Professional Issues (PI), Childbearing (CB), Advanced Practice (AP)
Learning Objectives:
Submission Description:- Discuss strategies to comprehensively evaluate heart disease risk factors in women.
- Describe the prevalence of heart disease risk factors in women.
- Identify important components to include in a vascular risk screening.
Purpose: To develop a nurse practitioner managed program to provide heart disease/stroke prevention education and help women identify vascular disease risk factors and modification strategies.
Review of Literature: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among women in the United States today. Since 1984, more women than men have been dying every year from heart disease. A recent national survey of women in the United States found that although awareness is improving, only about 55% of women recognize cardiovascular disease as their leading cause of death. Primary prevention through increasing awareness of risk factors and cardiovascular warning signs may help decrease the incidence of heart disease in women. The INTERHEART study found that the majority of cardiovascular disease is attributed to nine modifiable risk factors. Eighty percent of heart attacks and strokes are preventable through appropriate risk factor modification.
Review of Literature: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among women in the United States today. Since 1984, more women than men have been dying every year from heart disease. A recent national survey of women in the United States found that although awareness is improving, only about 55% of women recognize cardiovascular disease as their leading cause of death. Primary prevention through increasing awareness of risk factors and cardiovascular warning signs may help decrease the incidence of heart disease in women. The INTERHEART study found that the majority of cardiovascular disease is attributed to nine modifiable risk factors. Eighty percent of heart attacks and strokes are preventable through appropriate risk factor modification.
Summary: We developed a nurse-managed Women’s Heart Center with two components, educational programs and screening assessments. Educational programs are provided to the community to educate women on risk factor identification and modification strategies. Programs targeting different ethnic groups are offered to address racial differences in risk factors. The screening assessment is based on the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines for the primary prevention of heart disease and ischemic stroke. Symptomatic or high risk women are referred for further testing or to a cardiologist for follow-up care. Post tests and follow-up surveys are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational sessions and changes in health behavior after the screening. Implications for NPs: This program demonstrates that heart disease prevention education and screenings for women can be effectively performed in a standardized manner by advanced practice nurses. Nurse practitioners can play an important role in decreasing the prevalence of heart disease in women.
