The patient is a 30-year-old female who is married and has three children. Her ethnicity and religious beliefs are not identified. The woman works full-time. The learning need related to this patient is associated with health promotion. Considering that she smokes, has a large family, and high-stress rates, the patient is at risk of hypertension. Stanhope and Lancaster (2014) define health promotion as “activities that have as their goal the development of human attitudes and behaviors that maintain or enhance well-being” (p. 34). In this regard, it is essential to provide learning for this patient, making it clear that preventative measures are to be performed on a constant basis. Namely, there is a need for developing the care plan for health promotion and hypertension prevention.
The patient may come up with the following goal: to avoid hypertension to prevent health complications and feel better. To accomplish the client’s goal, a nurse should initiate the teaching sessions, through which the most important information is to be revealed. First of all, it is necessary to develop proper eating habits and try to avoid smoking. Moreover, adequate physical exercises, as well as psychological relief, compose an effective way to prevent hypertension. The paramount issue is that it is the patient who is responsible for all the above initiatives. The measurable objective may be stated as follows: I will start a healthier lifestyle.
Family support plays an essential role in the struggle against hypertension. It may be rather difficult for the patient to change her lifestyle. The family members may help her both psychologically and physically. For example, it is useful to spent evenings, playing some active games, or visiting the gym. In case the whole family would change their eating habits, namely, avoid fast food and eat more vegetables, it would be easier for the patient to adjust to a new lifestyle. It is significant to strengthen the patient’s motivation and progress through psychological assistance. A nurse should personally communicate with the patient, talking to her, and carefully listening to her needs and expectations.
Nowadays, the issue of hypertension is a rather serious problem. Approximately 29 percent of the US adult population (75 million people) suffer from the periodic or continuous high blood pressure that is also known as hypertension, as stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“High Blood Pressure Facts,” 2015). It should also be noted that health-related quality of life and well-being objective stated by Healthy People 2020 aims at improving the lives of all individuals. According to the mentioned objective, the overall well-being is to be achieved through a positive impact on the health status (“Health-Related Quality of Life & Well-Being,” 2017).
In this connection, the community resources are to be used to help the patient to achieve her goal. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be contacted to identify the most applicable community resource and also receive additional recommendations. The patient’s plan of care may be integrated into the community with the same health problem and demographics by empowering individuals to take actions related to the promotion of their health (Kumar & Preetha, 2012). At the community level, individuals may support and encourage each other to reach the common health outcomes, raising awareness of the disease and its risk factors, and promoting responsibility for health maintaining.
References
Health-Related Quality of Life & Well-Being. (2017). Web.
High Blood Pressure Facts. (2015). Web.
Kumar, S., & Preetha, G. (2012). Health promotion: An effective tool for global health. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 37(1), 5-12.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2014). Foundations of nursing in the community (4th ed.). New York, NY: Elsevier Health Sciences.