What should community health nurses encourage adults with hypertension to monitor regularly?

Monitoring blood lipid levels is crucial for adults with hypertension because there is a significant relationship between lipid levels and cardiovascular health. High levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, conditions that are already more prevalent in individuals with hypertension.

By encouraging adults with hypertension to regularly check their blood lipid levels, community health nurses can help identify individuals at greater risk for cardiovascular complications, prompting them to adopt lifestyle changes or medications aimed at managing both lipid levels and blood pressure. This proactive approach is essential in developing comprehensive care strategies to reduce overall cardiovascular risk and enhance long-term health outcomes for those with hypertension.

In contrast, while other options such as monitoring heart rate, sodium levels, and potassium levels may be important in the management of hypertension, they do not provide as direct a correlation to the risk of cardiovascular disease as blood lipid levels do.