Health promotion for cardiovascular diseases risk factor awareness by nursing students: A literature review

Abstract

There is a growing burden of cardiovascular diseases globally and this is increasing the burden on an al-ready overburdened healthcare system. Health promotion programs play a huge role in promoting awareness, disease prevention, early diagnosis and improving diseases management. However, the workload of most health professionals makes it difficult for them to incorporate these programs in their busy schedules. Health promotion programs that address cardiovascular disease awareness and risk fac-tor management have the potential to reduce the global impact of cardiovascular diseases while also em-powering nursing students to have the patient management skills they need in a professional setting. The aim of the study is to explore the effectiveness of health promotion programs by nursing students on cardiovascular disease awareness and risk factors. A literature review was conducted using a combined search in Medline and CINAHL via EBSCO. Additional studies were identified through reference searching. A total of 684 studies were identified and only five studies were included in this review. Two main catego-ries were identified in this review: Chronic disease prevention, Chronic disease diagnosis and chronic dis-ease management. This review confirms the effectiveness of health promotion programs by nursing stu-dents in managing CVD awareness and risk management. The use of patient empowerment as the key strategy in health promotion programs was a major highlight. Use of inter-professional collaborations between students has also proved to be a growing area of research. The author suggests that future re-search should assess the long-term impact of these programs and their sustainability.