Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypertension poses a significant occupational health threat to nurses globally, exacerbated by demanding work environments that can hinder their own health-seeking behaviors. In Ghana, despite a high burden of non-communicable diseases and the existence of employee health and wellbeing programme, evidence on how nurses with hypertension navigate their personal health management remains limited, particularly in high-stress settings like those in rural part of Ghana. AIM: We explored the health seeking behaviors of nurses diagnosed with hypertension and providing health care in a resource-constrained setting in a rural part of Northern Ghana. METHODS: The study employed a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive design. Through purposive sampling, twelve (12) nurses diagnosed with hypertension were recruited from the Kintampo Municipal Hospital's Employee Wellness Clinic. Data was collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews which were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis, guided by Braun and Clarke's framework and supported by NVivo 14.0 software, was used to assist with the data analysis. RESULTS: The analysis yielded nine major themes. The participants demonstrated high biomedical knowledge and perceived hypertension as a severe condition, strongly linked to occupational stress. Key barriers to effective management included overwhelming workload and scheduling constraints, financial limitations, a pervasive culture of professional self-reliance and stigma, and a critical lack of institutional support systems. While family and peer support were vital facilitators, they were insufficient to overcome systemic barriers. Nurses exhibited strong self-management practices, but their health-seeking was often reactive rather than preventive. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: A significant gap exists between nurses' knowledge of hypertension and their health-seeking actions. This gap is primarily driven by organizational and systemic barriers within the workplace, rather than a lack of individual awareness. To protect this critical workforce, we recommend that nurse managers, hospital management and health policymakers must prioritize the implementation of structured, low-cost workplace wellness programmes. These should include routine screening, flexible scheduling, anti-stigma campaigns to promote health-seeking, and confidential peer support systems to enable nurses to translate their knowledge into consistent self-care practices when diagnosed with hypertension.