36
Unit 1
Contemporary concepts in nursing
symptoms and do not require the assistance of a healthcare
team member.
The purpose of health promotion is to focus on the person’s
potential for wellness and to encourage appropriate alterations
in personal habits, lifestyle and environment in ways that
reduce risks and enhance health and well-being. Health pro-
motion is an active process; that is, it is not something that
can be prescribed or dictated. It is up to each person to decide
whether to make changes to promote a higher level of wellness.
Only the individual can make these choices.
Health and wellness
Health is viewed as a dynamic, ever-changing condition that
enables people to function at an optimal potential at any
given time. The ideal health status is one in which people are
successful in achieving their full potential, regardless of any
limitations they might have.
Wellness
, a reflection of health, involves a conscious and
deliberate attempt to maximise one’s health. Wellness does
not just happen; it requires planning and conscious commit-
ment and is the result of adopting lifestyle behaviours for the
purpose of attaining one’s highest potential for well-being.
Wellness is not the same for every person. The person with a
chronic illness or disability may still be able to achieve a desir-
able level of wellness. The key to wellness is to function at the
highest potential within the limitations over which there is no
control, such as a lifelong disability or genetic disorders. (For
further information on genetic considerations, see Chart 2-1 in
the related ancillary file for this chapter.)
present health concern and prevention of any future health
issues. Therefore, the following section discusses the use of
concepts of health education and promotion. The nurse should
ascertain the patient’s current level of knowledge and willing-
ness to learn as some patients are extremely well informed and
some do not want to know which may then become a targeted
issue in the plan of care
In Chart 2-9 the use of the nursing process to incorporate
these concepts into care is described.
Effective
health education
lays a solid foundation for indi-
vidual and
community
wellness. Although all nursing care is
directed towards promoting, maintaining, and restoring health;
preventing illness; and helping people adapt to the residual
effects of illness, many nursing activities are accomplished
through patient teaching.
Health promotion
Health education and
health promotion
are linked by a
common goal—to encourage people to achieve as high a level
of wellness as possible so that they can live maximally healthy
lives and avoid preventable illnesses. The call for health pro-
motion has become a cornerstone in health policy because of
the need to control costs and reduce unnecessary sickness and
death.
Definition
Health promotion may be defined as those activities that
assist people in developing resources that maintain or enhance
well-being and improve their quality of life. These activities
involve people’s efforts to remain healthy in the absence of
Plan of Nurs ing Care
Example of an individualised plan of nursing care
(
continued
)
CHART
2-8
Nursing interventions
c. Encourage patient to identify
adjustments necessary to reduce
stress
5. Encourage patient to identify obesity
and caffeine as stressors and
aggravators of hypertension; request
consultation with dietician and
reinforce instructions given
6. Assess for ischaemic leg ulcers; report
changes in darkened spots on legs to
physician
7. Teach foot care: daily inspection
and washing, nail care, avoidance of
caustic solutions, lubrication of dry
skin, avoidance of heat to feet, well-
fitting shoes and socks, avoidance of
crossing legs
Expected outcomes
Discusses lifestyle adjustments with
family
Identifies harmful effects of obesity
and caffeine
Makes plans for losing weight
Makes plans for decreasing caffeine intake
Absence of changes in skin integrity
on lower extremities
Describes principles and techniques
of proper foot care
Outcomes
Excessive involvement in daughters’
school and recreational activities
Verbalised plans to make more referrals
Identified need to decrease work hours
to maximum of 8 h per day
Consulted with wife and daughters;
will alternate with wife in attending
daughters’ activities; all family
members supportive
Accurately described effects of obesity
and caffeine on blood pressure
Plans to go to weight loss program; has
had success with this in the past
Drinks 1 cup of coffee for breakfast;
uses decaffeinated coffee at mid-
morning, lunch, and dinner; expressed
satisfaction with this plan
No changes noted in characteristics of
skin of lower legs on days 2 and 3
Discussed importance of proper foot
care; demonstrated proper technique
of foot care; shoes and socks fit well;
does not cross legs when sitting
