Health education classes help nurse leader manage her blood pressure

(SACRAMENTO)

Calene Roseman is no stranger to pressure. She’s a UC Davis Health nurse manager and a Doctor of Philosophy student at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. So, she is used to skillfully managing her work, school and home life.

However, there was one type of pressure that remained a challenge — her own high blood pressure, or hypertension.

Woman wearing blue scrubs speaking on the phone
Calene Roseman, nurse manager, enrolled in the Better Blood Pressure Basics course and found it helped her to manage her condition.

“I knew I had high blood pressure, and as a nurse, knew that I needed to do something to better control it,” Roseman explained. “But I didn’t have the ‘aha’ moment to make changes until I enrolled in a patient education class.”

The program was called Better Blood Pressure Basics and is run by Health Management & Education. This two-part class reviews everything about high blood pressure: goals, risk factors and consequences and medications, nutrition and physical activity. There are also resources to help patients manage their blood pressure.

“When I have blood pressure readings within a good range, those numbers put me in a space to want to have those good numbers again tomorrow,” Roseman said. “The numbers encourage me to take action, whether I need to stay better hydrated, watch my sodium or take my medication.”

If you want to learn more about your heart health and how to reduce risks, check out some of the additional patient education classes on Health Management and Education’s website.

There are also courses on managing diabetes, childbirth, breastfeeding, quitting tobacco, weight management and more.