BARCELONA, SPAIN – Nurse leaders from around the globe gathered in Barcelona today to tackle the global epidemic of cardiovascular disease. The Global Cardiovascular Nursing Leadership Forum (GCNLF), whose mission is to mobilize an international community of nurse leaders, met to examine ways that nursing and global nursing organizations can contribute the World Heart Federation’s goal to reduce deaths from non-communicable diseases 25% by 2025.

While cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke are largely preventable, they remain a global epidemic and the major cause of death worldwide. Recognizing that nurses are on the front lines of this epidemic, over 30 global nurse leaders representing multiple international organizations were convened by the GCNLF for a two-day summit. Nurse leaders shared experiences, best practices and challenges, received a clinically-focused nurse empowerment training, and will return to their country with individualized action plans.

“Central to addressing the global epidemic of cardiovascular disease is the high-quality engagement of patients by well-trained and empowered nurses,” said Laura Hayman, PhD, RN, FPCNA, FAAN, chair of the GCNLF. “This meeting is the next step towards building a stronger nursing practice in countries where it is not as well established.”

This is the second official meeting of the GCNLF, who met in 2014 to formulate a “Global Strategy” to address the role of nursing in global CVD and stroke prevention. In the first step of that plan, the group launched an online home early in 2016 to serve as an international patient education resource and information clearinghouse.

“Nursing is the largest healthcare discipline globally,” said Catriona Jennings, GCNLF steering committee member and past chair of the Cardiovascular Council on Nursing and Allied Professions. “While the challenges vary by country, we are confident that the collaborative and global nature of GCNLF will help us tackle this epidemic.”

For more information on the Global Cardiovascular Nursing Leadership Forum, visit www.gcnlf.org.  

“Central to addressing the global epidemic of cardiovascular disease is the high-quality engagement of patients by well-trained and empowered nurses,” said Laura Hayman, PhD, RN, FPCNA, FAAN, chair of the GCNLF. “This meeting is the next step towards building a stronger nursing practice in countries where it is not as well established.” GCNLF,GCNLF, 2016-10-27 16:01:28.860
CDC Vital Signs: Blood Pressure Control Did you know? 70% of US adults age 65 or older have high blood pressure and 50% of those with high blood pressure are uncontrolled.

Poor adherence to taking prescribed anti-hypertensive medications has been identified as a leading cause of poor blood pressure control resulting in increased cardiovascular disease risk and worsening health outcomes.

The good news is there are simple steps we can take to improve adherence and blood pressure control. These steps include:

• Simplifying blood pressure treatments.
• Prescribing generics to keep costs low.
• Encouraging the use of home blood pressure monitoring to increase awareness among patients and caregivers. 

For more information, check out the CDC’s Blood Pressure Control fact sheet.

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