Grand Canyon University
Family Centered Health Promotion
NRS-429V
August 17, 2014
Nursing Roles and Methodist in Healthcare Promotion
Health, as defined by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Alma Atta that states “complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This declaration was presented at the WHO International Conference on Primary Health Care, in Alma Atta, Russia in 1978. Health promotion is a series of targeted interventions under the following classifications of primary, secondary and tertiary care.
A nurse is most likely the first healthcare provider to initiate the process of promoting wellness into a patient’s continuum of care. The nurse’s role is probably the single most important role in health promotion. The role of a nurse in health promotion is not the only catalyst for motivation of change, but teaching the patient to be autonomous and self driven with their care. The overall shift with the nurse’s purposes for healthcare promotion has shifted from caring for chronic illnesses to promotion and improving health (Edelman, C., & Mandle, C.L. 2014).
Although this paradigm in nursing might be considered a relatively new concept, it is not. Florence Nightingale, over 100 years ago noted, “I use the word nursing for want of a better. It has been limited to signify little more than the administror of medicine and application of poultices. It aught to signify the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet and the proper selection and administration of diet, all at the least expense of vital power to the patient” (Judd, D., & Sitzman, K. p. 73, 2014).
The foundation of health promotion can be realized best by examining primary care. Healthcare system’s in the U.S.A. is primarily a disease care system. Ninety-five cents of every dollar are expended on healthcare goes to treating a disease after it had occurred. At least three quarters of these costs were spent on treatment of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, which are preventable or even reversible (Ornish, D. 2008).
Nurses are called to assume a substantial role in altering healthcare models from basic illness cure to a health promotion. The goal is to improve community health and well being by bettering the quality of life. Primary prevention involves taking a proactive approach through health promotion and health education. Decreasing the chances of contracting a disease before it occurs.
Educating non-smoking teens on the risks of smoking is an example of primary prevention in cardio-vascular disease (CVD). It is also labeled as care by “going upstream” and remedying the problems at the beginnings rather than case by case. Primary prevention of cardio vascular disease is also positively impacted by the introduction of a low dosage aspirin. This is also an example of a primary “intervention-preventive” overlapping secondary care, which focuses on rehabilitation and management of pre-existing CVD (Howard, P. A. 2014).
Nurses are trained to provide preventative treatment due to their skill set. Step one of course, are patient education initiatives. For example, nurses instructing school aged children on what does a health diet consist of and what are the hazards of smoking. Also, the primary intervention nurse is equipped to identify patients with certain risk factors and jointly, work with them to reduce or eliminate these factors. This effort will prevent the onset of disease. Nurse are no longer restricted to rote tasks, rather they educate over and above nursing care. They and their physician colleagues, work together as units to provide preventive care, which will health, maintain the health and quality of life for their patients.
Moving further downstream, further away from the source, nurses now confront the secondary care level of promotion. In the health promotion model there are three levels of