Week 6: The Role of the Nurse in Promoting and Preserving Health

It is common knowledge that a healthy lifestyle will lead to a longer life. Healthy individuals have strong immunity and are at limited risk for contracting some of the prominent diseases facing individuals in the United States, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, orthopedic disorders, and cancer. The problems faced by Americans are not the same as those faced by individuals in other parts of the world. In fact, many people in the world struggle with problems on the opposite end of the spectrum, such as malnutrition, and iron, iodine, and folic acid deficiencies, which have a negative impact on reproductive, infant, and child health. The risk factors that increase in individuals who are not living healthy lives can challenge a nurse’s ability to build a healthier community and a healthier world.

In this, your final week of the course, you will identify health promotion strategies for addressing obesity and the chronic health issues that may result from obesity. You will explore how these issues affect health costs.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Create health promotion and prevention strategies for addressing obesity
• Analyze strategies nurses might implement to modify messages for obesity prevention that integrate cultural sensitivity
• Analyze challenges nurses might face when modifying messages for obesity prevention and health promotion

Photo Credit: [Alex Treadway]/[National Geographic]/Getty Images

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Holtz, C. (2013). Global health care: Issues and policies (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

• Chapter 10, “Global Perspectives on Selected Chronic Cardiovascular Diseases” (pp. 239–262)
• Chapter 11, “Global Perspectives on Diabetes and Respiratory and Orthopedic Chronic Diseases” (pp. 263–282)
• Review Chapter 14, “Global Perspectives on Nutrition” (pp. 364–366)

Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2016). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (9th ed.).St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

• Chapter 20, “Promoting Health Through Healthy Communities and Cities” (pp. 441–454)

Public Health Nursing: Population-Centered Health Care in the Community, 9th Ed. by Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. Copyright 2015 by Elsevier Health Science Books. Reprinted by permission of Elsevier Health Science Books via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Laws, R., Campbell, K. J., van der Pligt, P., Ball, K., Lynch, J., Russell, G., … Denny-Wilson, E. (2015). Obesity prevention in early life: An opportunity to better support the role of maternal and child health nurses in Australia. BioMedCentral Nursing, 14(26), 1–14.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Required Media

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2010e). Public and global health: The role of the nurse in promoting and preserving health [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

 

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.

 

TED. (2013). How an obese town lost a million pounds. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/mick_cornett_how_an_obese_town_lost_a_million_pounds

 

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 15 minutes.

 

Mayor Mick Cornett talks about how the people of Oklahoma City lost 1 million pounds after being labeled one of the fattest towns in America in a men’s health magazine.

Writing Resources and Program Success Tools

Document: AWE Checklist (4000) (Word document)

 

This checklist will help you self-assess your writing to see if it meets academic writing standards for this course.

Discussion: Obesity: A Global Health Concern

Obesity is a continuing challenge for citizens and health care providers in the United States, as you likely know. Obesity can lead to numerous chronic health problems, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Childhood diabetes is also increasing at a disconcerting rate, which will lead to an increased health care burden within a few short years. Current estimates set the cost of obesity on the U.S. health care system at $147–$210 billion per year (The State of Obesity, 2016). Think about this week’s media as you take a moment to consider obesity as a burgeoning global challenge.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Compare rates of obesity in the United States to other developed and also developing countries. Think about how health issues resulting from obesity compare as well.
• Reflect on health promotion and prevention strategies that nurses can implement.
• Contemplate the ethical, cultural, economic, political, and environmental issues a nurse should consider when developing a primary obesity health prevention strategy.

By Day 3

Post an obesity health promotion and prevention strategy a nurse could implement for a specific cultural group in the United States. Then, modify your message for use in one other country, being sensitive to the cultural nuances of the country you select. Describe why you chose to take the approach you did in your strategies and explain any challenges you anticipate a nurse may encounter when trying to implement these strategies.

Support your response with references from the professional nursing literature.

Note Initial Post: A 3-paragraph (at least 250–350 words) response. Be sure to use evidence from the readings and include in-text citations. Utilize essay-level writing practice and skills, including the use of transitional material and organizational frames. Avoid quotes; paraphrase to incorporate evidence into your own writing. A reference list is required. Use the most current evidence (usually ≤ 5 years old).