The nurses' performance in a hypertension and diabetes programs has been important, once its approach is not only directed to illness, but also to the patient as a whole. Therefore, the nursing consultation is a unique moment of this approach. This is a descriptive study aiming at searching the activities performed in the nursing consultations that are performed within Hypertension Programs in the city of Fortaleza, State of Ceará, Brazil. The data were gathered from March to May 1999, with 14 nurses, who work in these services. Data were analyzed according to Bardin's content analysis as well as the categorical analysis. The results showed that the nursing consultation is still based on the traditional curative medical model. The activities performed by nurses are restricted to anamnesis, brief physical examination and diet orientations, medications, walks and use of infusions. In the consultations, individual care prevails, without considering family and group approaches.
nursing; hypertension