Abstract

The purpose of this ex post facto descriptive study was to determine the incidence of documented exercise prescription in nurse practitioner clients with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. Pender's Health Promotion Model provided the theoretical framework for this study. Nurse practitioners providing primary care in the State of Mississippi was the target population, with four nurse practitioners providing care in clinics representing the four geographical regions of Mississippi (Northeast, Southwest, Southeast, and Northwest) selected as a nonrandom sample of convenience. At each clinic, from the total population of records in which clients were aged 25 to 65 years with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, 25 client charts were selected for review by the researcher. Records were reviewed for incidence of exercise mention and incidence of exercise prescription. Data were collected using a researcher-designed chart review form. Two research questions guided this study: What is the incidence of documented exercise mention among IV nurse practitioner clients with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and what is the incidence of documented exercise prescription among nurse practitioner clients with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease? Utilizing descriptive statistics, 8% of the charts reviewed contained documentation that the nurse practitioner had advised the client to exercise (exercise mention). Only 1% of charts reviewed contained an actual exercise prescription as specified by the operational definition. ANOVA was used to examine differences between groups. No significant differences existed among groups with regard to age, sex, or exercise prescription. However, a statistical difference at the .05 level was appreciated among groups with regard to documented exercise mention. The findings of this study demonstrate that nurse practitioners are well below the Healthy People 2 000 goal which hopes to increase to 65% the number of health care providers routinely providing clients with an exercise prescription. Perhaps, as indicated by the practitioners in conversation with the researcher, clients are advised by the nurse practitioner to exercise, but exercise is not documented in the client record. Recommendations for further research include conduction of a similar study using the survey method to determine nurse practitioner perception of incidence of exercise prescription and replication of the study using a larger sample size.

Degree

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Graduate Nursing

Degree Date

8-1-1997

Publication Number

27924547

First Advisor

Lorraine Hamm

Second Advisor

Sheila Adams

Document Type

Thesis

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