Abstract

AMIGO, Isaac; FERNANDEZ, Concepción  and  HERRERA, Julio. Six performances of the nurse in order to prevent an erroneous diagnosis of essential hypertension: white coat hypertension and white coat effect. Index Enferm [online]. 2005, vol.14, n.51, pp.55-58. ISSN 1699-5988.

White coat hypertension (WCH) can be considerated an erroneous diagnosis of essential hypertension and can  represents a serious problem when we consider the clinical and pharmacological and economic consequences of  an incorrect blood pressure measurement. The prevalence of WCH is situated around 20% of the patients diagnosed as having high blood pressure. The results from different studies point out that the nurses usually obtain more reliable blood pressure readings than the doctors, because of that they can play an important role in the control of WCH. In relation to this a total of six specific recommendations are put forward with the aim of preventing an erroneous diagnosis of essential hypertension.