Background: Epidemiological surveillance of nursing diagnosis is an approach anchored on a post-modern epidemiology focused on persons health-disease responses. Regarding to public health priorities, the population where our study occurred had as priority problem the arterial hypertension. Related to this chronical disease, nursing diagnoses about health-disease responses in primary healthcare has as major focus Therapeutic Regime Management. Our aim was to study the nursing diagnosis in this issue, from an epidemiological approach. Methods: A descriptive study from an epidemiological approach was developed, analyzing nursing diagnoses in hypertensive patients. Results: We found 17,7% of undiagnosed patients and better diagnoses in patients with complications than in those without complications. Conclusions: nursing records need to be improved in order to promote more robust studies in the post-modern epidemiology defended for the future.