Abstract

Globally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in women greater than 25 years of age (Caboral & King, 2008) accounting for one third of all deaths (Mosca et al, 2007). There are over 38 million women (34%) currently living with CVD in the United States (Mosca et al., 2007). Prevention of CVD is paramount to the health of every woman. Rosswurm and Larrabee’s model for guiding providers through a systematic process for the change to evidence based practice was used as the framework for this study. The purpose of this study was to examine if physicians and nurse practitioners are following the Class I recommended evidence-based guidelines with women (Mosca et al., 2007). A sample of 99 charts from women ages 20 to 70 were reviewed. Documentation of lifestyle interventions of cigarette smoking was addressed 81%, obesity 63%, lipid values were obtained 54%, and hypertension was addressed 100%. These findings indicate that the guideline is not utilized to the full extent in clinical practice.