Introducing the Heart Nurse Hypertension Outreach Campaign
How do we make a meaningful impact on cardiovascular disease, the leading global cause of morbidity and mortality? One answer is taking cardiovascular health directly into the communities where people live, work, and gather.
PCNA chapters across the country are doing just that through a year-long initiative focused on identifying hypertension through volunteer-led community screenings.
On August 22, 2026, the PCNA Maryland Chapter put this work into action, leading one of the first large-scale events of the Heart Nurse Hypertension Outreach Campaign. During the event, over 100 individuals were screened, including those found to have elevated blood pressure and who had not previously been diagnosed with hypertension.
The event, held at Redeemers Church of Christ in the Baltimore area, was part of a two-day nursing conference hosted by the Diaspora Nursing Alliance at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. PCNA volunteers staffed 16 screening stations, connecting with attendees and providing blood pressure screenings, education, and resources they could take home.
The Maryland Chapter’s efforts are part of a much larger national initiative. Under the leadership of PCNA Board President Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, the year-long Heart Nurse Hypertension Outreach Campaign will engage 16 PCNA regional chapters across the United States.
To support chapter volunteers, PCNA has developed a comprehensive “how-to” toolkit that includes patient education materials, take-home blood pressure information, and supplies for conducting on-site screenings.
Support for the Heart Nurse Hypertension Outreach Campaign has been provided by the Partnership to Advance Cardiovascular Health and Omron.
Related Resources
- Review the latest hypertension clinical guideline
- Investigate resources for you, your colleagues, and patients
- CE course: The Silent Threat, Loud Solutions: Nurses Leading the Charge in Hypertension Management
- Hypertension tools and resources
- PCNA’s Hypertension Screening Toolkit to plan and implement your own event
- Learn more about getting involved in PCNA
