Preventative Care

Preventative Care

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Preventative Care

The application of scientific principles with the motive to prevent diseases and disability is a basic practice performed by nurses. Information attained from the patient assists practitioners in providing individualized preventive services (Eldredge et al., 2016). Some of the questions asked by the patients include; period between checkups, if the patient partakes in alcohol, the amount of exercise performed, eating habits, and illness preventive actions such as washing hands before eating. These questions will help nurses in creating a profile of the patient whereby they can concentrate their efforts on changing habits that cause illness. Patients of different ages and gender perform different activities and habits. These may range from diet, exercise, weight, safe sex and drugs amongst others. Knowing the age and gender of a patient may prove crucial in determining the practices to be followed so as provide preventive actions (Eldredge et al., 2016). Patients determined to change their habits to live a healthier lifestyle practice preventive measures. Understanding and beating illnesses such as malaria or cholera can be a milestone for patients as they will now know how to be more cautious (Nicholas & Hall, 2011). Moreover, the information they will have received will be spread throughout the community thus benefiting not only themselves but also members of their community. Furthermore, it is also a milestone for health centers and nurses as it will reduce the number of patients being admitted to hospitals or clinics due to illnesses being preventable (Nicholas & Hall, 2011). Health promotion can be defined as the process of allowing people to control and improve their health status. The major risk associated with it is the overestimation of illnesses and self-medication (Eldredge et al., 2016). Precautions are always given to such patients to visit the nearest health center for further consultations.

References

Eldredge, L. K. B., Markham, C. M., Kok, G., Ruiter, R. A., & Parcel, G. S. (2016). Planning health promotion programs: An intervention mapping approach. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken N.J.

Nicholas, J. A., & Hall, W. J. (2011). Screening and preventive services for older adults. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine: A Journal of Translational and Personalized Medicine, 78(4), 498-508.