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Med-Surg · chapter 3 · Health Promotion and Patient Education

Health Promotion and Wellness

The 14 things this section of the textbook says that you are most likely to be asked about — quoted word for word, not retold. Then 3 practice questions with the reasoning.

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Key points

  1. Current health definition

    But current conceptions establish that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World Health Organization, 1946).

  2. Individualized patient education

    For nurses to positively affect people’s health through health promotion, according to the Health Belief Model, the information presented to patients must be individualized, relevant to their current lifestyle, and provide enough facts for the patients to make behavior changes.

  3. Pamphlets need teaching

    Evidence reveals, however, that providing pamphlets without additional educational interventions is ineffective (Bhattad Pacifico, 2022).

  4. Illness wellness continuum

    Betty Neuman (2011), a nursing theorist, describes a person’s health as a continuum in which illness and wellness are opposite states of being. According to Neuman, the response to stressors (health issues) can move people across the continuum toward illness or wellness.

  5. Primary prevention

    The prevention of health issues through identification of risk factors and education and intervention to reduce the amount of risk for those health issues before they ever occur is primary prevention.

  6. Secondary prevention

    In secondary prevention, a provider decreases the impact of a health issue through early detection, intervention to slow the progression of an illness, or rehabilitating to a former health state.

  7. Tertiary prevention

    When a patient has a chronic health problem, tertiary prevention is intervention to prevent further complications, improve functional ability and quality of life, or extend life expectancy.

  8. Healthy People 2030 goal

    Healthy People 2030’s goal is for each member of society to have the ability to attain optimal health and well-being during each stage of their life (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023).

  9. Nurse role in promotion

    In health promotion, nurses act as coaches and guides to promote healthy choices rather than authorities that offer prescriptive guidelines and treatment for established health issues only.

  10. Holistic patient empowerment

    While the health-care provider plans and prescribes treatment based solely on the medical diagnosis, holistic health promotion empowers patients to meet their own health needs through knowledge and action in their personal, social, or environmental situations.

  11. Patient nurse partnership

    Partnership between the patient and nurse is essential in creating individualized health and wellness optimization according to the patient’s values.

  12. Person-centered approach

    When employing a person-centered approach, the nurse focuses on the person and their experiences instead of solely focusing on the disease process and its symptoms.

  13. Social determinants in planning

    Therefore, health-promotional activities should take social determinants of health into consideration and target a diverse audience while striving to improve the health outcomes for all.

  14. Support resource role

    If mental, emotional, or social support is not present in a patient’s life, the nurse can help identify the need and provide resources to help the patient meet those needs.

Terms to know

health promotion
The holistic and proactive process of prevention of health issues through which people are empowered to take control of their health-related choices and reach the best possible health status is called health promotion.
positive health concept
A positive health concept is a subjective view of one’s health status that allows a person to function at optimal levels, cope with life’s stressors, and maintain a feeling of satisfaction, even though they experience stressors (Vermunt et al., 2018).
health-care equity
This equal opportunity to achieve desired health-care outcomes is called health-care equity.
health-care disparity
When a certain group of people have worse health outcomes than other groups of people for no obvious medical reason, it is called health-care disparity.
wellness
Wellness and health are often used in context to mean the same thing; however, wellness is the subjective interpretation of a person’s state of holistic health (Pender et al., 2018).
physical wellness
A person’s physical wellness is their optimal physical function, which includes maintaining healthy nutrition, proactively seeking treatment for medical issues, and minimizing risky health behaviors (Melnyk Neale, 2018).
mental, emotional, and social wellness
The state in which a person feels satisfaction and can effectively cope with changes in their mental, emotional, and social health status is considered their mental, emotional, and social wellness.
religion
The organized system of beliefs that reflect a person’s approach to or understanding of spirituality is considered religion, but spirituality is broader than religion, and a person may be spiritual without being religious (Dossey Keegan, 2020).

Practice questions

Stuck on select-all-that-apply? How to take them one option at a time.

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Every question here, with the answer

  1. At 1000, a nurse follows up with a patient identified as being at risk for an STI. The patient received a prevention pamphlet but has not changed health-related behaviors. Which entry best describes the next teaching plan?

    1. Record that prevention information was provided and reassess behavior changes at follow-up.
    2. Review the patient's personal STI risk, consequences of infection, and safe sex practices in relation to the patient's lifestyle.
    3. Provide another prevention pamphlet for the patient to review before the next visit.
    4. Ask the patient to reread the pamphlet and bring questions to the next scheduled visit.

    Answer: Review the patient's personal STI risk, consequences of infection, and safe sex practices in relation to the patient's lifestyle.

    The section explains that pamphlets alone are ineffective and recommends explaining personal susceptibility, consequences, and safe sex practices. The other entries repeat written information, postpone additional teaching, or record information delivery without addressing the patient's need for individualized education.

  2. At 1400, a patient asks to help choose wellness goals and review progress. The nurse is preparing the visit note. Which entries, if they accurately reflect the visit, demonstrate a person-centered partnership? Select all that apply.

    1. Patient and nurse discussed possible approaches and agreed on the health-promotion plan.
    2. Patient and nurse selected wellness goals that reflect the patient's personal values.
    3. Patient and nurse agreed to evaluate progress together and discuss whether the plan meets the patient's goals.
    4. Nurse finalized wellness goals based on the diagnosis and then explained the completed plan to the patient.
    5. Nurse selected the evaluation criteria; patient was asked to follow the plan until the nurse's review.

    Answer: Patient and nurse discussed possible approaches and agreed on the health-promotion plan., Patient and nurse selected wellness goals that reflect the patient's personal values., Patient and nurse agreed to evaluate progress together and discuss whether the plan meets the patient's goals.

    A person-centered partnership involves patients in planning and evaluating care, with goals individualized to their values. Selecting goals together, agreeing on approaches, and jointly reviewing progress demonstrate that partnership; explaining a completed plan or assigning the patient only a follow-through role does not demonstrate shared decision-making.

  3. At 1600, a nurse updates the health-promotion plan for a patient receiving medication-assisted treatment for addiction. The patient expects to return to the same social group and identifies that environment as a barrier to maintaining sobriety. Which planned-care entry best reflects a holistic approach?

    1. Reinforce medication-assisted treatment and revisit relationship-building goals after cravings improve.
    2. Focus the health-promotion plan on medication-assisted treatment and assessment of cravings.
    3. Record the social barriers as background information while retaining the medication-focused plan.
    4. Include social supports that encourage new relationships and strengthen confidence in behavioral change alongside medication-assisted treatment.

    Answer: Include social supports that encourage new relationships and strengthen confidence in behavioral change alongside medication-assisted treatment.

    The section describes a holistic approach that combines medication-assisted treatment, supportive relationships, and empowerment to make behavioral changes. Focusing on cravings or merely recording social barriers leaves the patient's environment unaddressed, while postponing relationship-building delays an identified component of the health-promotion plan.

Where every quote comes from

Section 3.1 Health Promotion and Wellness of Medical-Surgical Nursing by Christy Bowen, Bridget Carey, Jessica Palozie, Maren Reinholdt, OpenStax, 2024. Read the whole section free at openstax.org.

The textbook is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. This page quotes it word for word and adds the headings, the order and the practice questions; references to the book's figures and stray spaces left by its formatting are removed. The page is shared under the same licence. Nothing here is sold.