Health Nursing Theory

CONCEPT AND THEORIES OF HEALTH

Introduction

In the past years there has been an observable rise in the delivery of nursing services in home settings.

Home health nursing practice varies from nursing in acute care settings in many ways. Home health nurses undertake a higher degree of autonomy and independence.

Home health care is flowing to the forefront as a feasible entry point in the health care structure.

In the recent past, home health care happened at the end of the patient care scale-that is, after discharge from a severe care facility.

Nowadays the trend is varying to use of home health care services to elude hospitalization

Health, wellness, and well-being have many meanings and understandings. The nurse should be conversant with the

Patients’ health beliefs also influence their health exercise.

Many consider health and wellness as the same thing or, at the very least, as escorting one another. However, health may not always accompany well-being: on the contrary, another person may lack a sense of well-being yet be in a state of good health.

Definition Health

In the olden days, health has been considered in terms of the presence or absence of disease.

Nightingale defined health as “a state of being well and using every power of the individual possesses to the fullest extent”.

World Health Organization (WHO) takes a general observation of health. It defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

There is no agreement about any meaning of health. There is understanding of how to achieve a certain phase of health, but health on its own cannot be quantified.

Another definition;

Health is a mirror of concern for the individual as a complete person functioning physically, psychologically, and socially. Mental processes control patient’s relationship with their physical and social environments, their relations with

• To prevent illness

• To enhance the quality of life

• Home health nurses must function independently in a variety of home settings and situations, employers generally prefer that the nurse be prepared at the baccalaureate level or above.

PERSONAL DEFINITION OF HEALTH

• Being free from indications of disease and pain as much as possible

• Being in good spirits most of the time.

• Health is an ongoing process- a way of life- through which a person develops and encourages every aspect of the body, mind, and feelings to interrelate harmoniously as much as possible.

SCOPES OF WELLNESS

Anspaugh et al (1991) suggests five scopes of wellness.

1. Physical: It is ability to carry out daily tasks, achieve fitness, maintain adequate nutrition and proper body fat, avoid abusing drugs and alcohol or using tobacco products, and generally to practice positive lifestyle