ObjectiveFor better health interventions, blood pressure control and reducing risk of cardiovascular events, we explored the effects of health education by nurses on hypertension patients after discharging. MethodsHypertensive discharging-patients from the department of cardiology of the West China Hospital of Sichuan University were enrolled from January to October in 2011. They were divided into two groups, including a health education group and a control group. The patients in the health education group were given all-side care, health guidance, education lectures and telephone follow-up by nurses. The control group got no intervention. After one year follow-up, the information about situation of blood pressure control, new-onset cardiovascular events and changes of life habits were collected from the two groups. SPSS 19.0 was used to perform statistic analysis. ResultsA total of 300 discharged hypertensive cases were included, with 150 cases in each group. The systolic blood pressure of patients in the health education group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Both blood control rates and the habit of low salt intake in the health education group were also better than those of the control group (both P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in changes of smoking, drinking, physical exercise and new-onset cardiovascular events between the two groups. ConclusionHealth education by nurses could effectively improve the management of blood pressure in patients with hypertension.