Introduction
Various health programs usually focus on the control and management of diseases affecting individuals rather than ensuring the overall health of the population. Health promotion challenges narrow focus on health and supports a comprehensive analysis of various factors which may affect the health and well-being of individuals . Health promotion essentially recognizes the environmental factors affecting health and the complex relationship between the environmental factors and the emergence of health problems as a result of such factors .
Health Promotion in Nursing Practice
Health promotion is a vital component of nursing practice and nurses play a critical role in transforming the health of individuals, society and health care system through the implementation of various health promotion programs . The International Council of Nurses defines nursing to include the promotion of health, prevention of illness and taking care of the ill, disables and dying people . Health promotion is a key nursing activity as evident from the definition of nursing . Nurses promote the health of individuals, families and communities by educating them about the required lifestyle modifications for maintenance of good health .
Three Levels of Health Promotion Prevention
There are three levels of health promotion prevention which include primary, secondary and tertiary levels of health promotion prevention. The primary prevention includes health promotion as a part of the model to promote health activities in people and primary health promoting behaviors . The secondary prevention refers to the early detection of the disease and the prevention of disease sequels . The tertiary prevention focuses on the minimization of the loss of functions as a result of the disease .
Health Education and Health Promotion
Before 1990, health promotion term was not much used in the nursing literature and was restricted to health education domain . Lately, health promotion and health education has been used synonymously in the nursing literature . Nursing has yet to conceptualize and provide clarity on the health promotion and health education domain and the distinction between the two . Many nurses are yet to understand that health education and health promotion are completely different domains and need to be practiced separately and not in interdependence with each other .
Evolving Roles and Responsibilities of Nursing in Health Promotion
The long term chronic health conditions are one of the greatest challenges to American health care systems. Nurses have the ability to achieve improved health outcomes for patients with long term conditions .
The goals of health promotion are consistent with the broader and the holistic philosophy of nursing and client care, yet the imposition of biomedically determined models of nursing care limits this scope . Nurses are often inclined towards the demands of the technology that the health experiences of patients become less relevant to them than the findings of the technology . Nursing practice, thus remains governed by various biomedical frameworks which are not conducive to wider and holistic health promotion activities . The main reason for such a gap is that the nurses are often corrupted by the clinical environment and medical concepts to which they get exposed .
Although the concept of health promotion in nursing has evolved, its definition still remains too broad and there is a need to clarify, refine and redefine the concept of health promotion in nursing . A study conducted by Kelley and Abraham has shown that nurse participants practiced health promotion is narrow and limited terms of health education which was primarily focused on isolated information giving and disease related domain . There is a lack of practical description of the health promotion concept in nursing which thus limits the practice of health promotion in nursing .
There is an emergence of broad nurse led and nurse initiated health promotion programs and many nursing journals are now paying attention to effective health promotion activities . Nurses have now begun to engage themselves in various innovative health promotion activities and contribute to improve the health conditions of the society .
Implementation Methods for Health Promotion
Health promotion strategies have been essentially politically based, politically driven and politically expedient activities . It has been assumed that nurses are politically expedient candidates with the ability to move in and out of policy mechanics of the health service arenas . Using the health advocacy approach to health promotion, the nurses must assume an active social leadership role to improve the health status of people through various health promotion strategies . Nurses must align themselves with the various systems of health governance at each level of social and economic administration .
There is a need to develop health promotion in nursing with a concept that emphasizes and strengthens the patient’s ability to make their own choices and to influence and control their treatment and life situation which shall allow better self-care . There is a need to respect and empower the patient’s voice in health care .
Conclusion
Nurses need to be empowered in health care organizations and need to be well equipped to practice health promotion strategies to improve the health of populations.
References
Green, J. & Tones, K., 2010. Health Promotion: Planning and Strategies. 2nd ed. London: SAGE.
JONSSON, P. D. et al., 2014. Problematization of perspectives on health promotion and empowerment in mental health nursing*within the research network ‘‘MeHNuRse’’ and the Horatio conference, 2012. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, Volume 9.
Lundy, K. S. & Janes, S., 2009. Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public's Health. 2nd ed. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Raingruber, B., 2014. Contemporary Health Promotion in Nursing Practice. MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Sutherland, D. & Hayter, M., 2009. Structured review: evaluating the effectiveness of nurse case managers in improving health outcomes in three major chronic diseases. Journal of Clinical Nursing, Volume 18, pp. 2978-2992.
Whitehead, D., 2010. Health promotion in nursing: a Derridean discourse analysis. Health Promotion International, 26 (1), pp. 117-127.
