Scope of

Nursing Practice
Scope of Nursing Practice

Nurses provide care for 3 types of clients:

• a. Individuals
• b. Families
• c. Communities

4 Areas of Nursing Practice

1. PROMOTING HEALTH & WELLNESS
(HEALTH PROMOTION)
-Wellness is a state of well-being. It means
engaging in attitudes and behavior that
enhance the quality of life and maximize
personal potential.
-Health promotion is a behavior motivated by
the desire to increase well-being and
actualize human health potential.
Scope of Nursing Practice

The Nurse’s Role in Health Promotion:

– 1. Model healthy lifestyle behaviors and attitudes.
– 2. Facilitate client involvement in the assessment,
implementation and evaluation of health goals.
– 3. Teach clients self-care strategies to enhance fitness, improve
nutrition, manage stress and enhance relationships.
– 4. Assist individuals, families and communities to increase their
level of health.
– 5. Educate clients to be effective health care consumers.
– 6. Assist clients, families and communities to develop and
choose heal h promotion options.
– 7. Guide client’s development in effective problem solving and
decision-making.
– 8. Reinforce client’s personal and family health promoting
behaviors.
– 9. Advocate in the community for changes that promote a
healthy environment.
Scope of Nursing Practice

Q client… no matter how acutely or

chronically ill, has Strength. The
Nurse must identify the use of
these strengths to help client reach
maximum function & quality
of life or meet death with dignity.

Programs or Health Promotion

• 1. Information dissemination
• 2. Health risk appraisal and wellness assessment
• 3. Lifestyle and behavior change
• 4. Environmental control programs.
Scope of Nursing Practice

HEALTH PROMOTION TOPICS

INFANTS
• -Infant- parent attachment/ bonding
• - Breastfeeding
• - Sleep patterns
• - Playful activity to stimulate development
• - Immunizations
• - Safety promotion and injury control.

CHILDREN
• Nutrition
• Dental check-ups
• Rest and exercise
• Immunizations
• Safety promotion and injury control
Scope of Nursing Practice

9. ADOLESCENTS
• Communicating with the teen.
• Hormonal changes
• Nutrition
• Exercise and rest
• Peer group influences
• Self concept and body image
• Sexuality
• Safety promotion and accident prevention

10. ELDERS
• Adequate sleep - Drug Management
• Exercise - Appropriate use of alcohol
• -Dental/ oral health - Foot health
Scope of Nursing Practice

• Health screening recommendations

• Hearing aid use - Safety precautions
• Immunizations - Smoking cessation
• Medication instruction - Weight control
• Mental health - Nutrition
• Preventive health services - Physical fitness

2. PREVENTING ILLNESS
(DISEASE PREVENTION)
> The GOAL of illness prevention programs
is to maintain optimal health by preventing
disease.
Scope of Nursing Practice

• Nursing activities that prevent illness includes:

> Immunizations
> Pre-natal and Infant care
> Prevention of STDs.

The objective of illness prevention

activities are:
- to reduce the risk of illness
- to promote health habits
- to maintain the individual’s optimal
functioning
Scope of Nursing Practice

Activities for Illness Prevention

– 1. Hospital educational programs in areas such as prenatal care
for pregnant women, smoking-cessation programs and &
reduction seminars.
– 2. Community programs & resources that encourage healthy
lifestyles including aerobic exercise classes, swimnastics &
physical fitness programs.
– 3. Literature & TV information on diet, exercise & the importance
of good health habits.
– 4. Health assessments in institutions, clinics & community
settings that identify areas of strength & potential for illness.

Levels of Prevention:
1. Primary Prevention
2. Secondary Prevention
3. Tertiary Prevention
1. Primary- is true prevention
- it precedes disease or dysfunction and its applied to clients
considered to be physically & emotionally healthy.
- includes all health promotion efforts as well as wellness activities
that focus on maintaining & improving the general health of
individuals, families & communities.

Health Promotion includes:

• Health education programs
• Immunization
• Physical & Nutritional fitness activities
Scope of Nursing Practice

2. Secondary
- Focuses on individuals who are experiencing
health problems or illness & who are @
risk for developing complications or
worsening condition.
- Activities are directed at diagnosis and
prompt intervention thereby reducing the
severity & enabling the client to return to
a normal level of health as early as
possible.
- Includes screening techniques & treating
early stages of disease to limit disability.
Scope of Nursing Practice

3. Tertiary
- occurs when the defect or disability is
permanent & irreversible. It involves
minimizing the effects of long term disease or
disability by interventions directed at
preventing complications & deterioration.
- activities are directed at rehabilitation rather
than diagnosis and treatment.
- care @ this level aims to help clients achieve
as high a level of functioning as possible,
despite the limitations caused by illness or
impairment. It I Involves preventing further
disability or reduced functioning.
Scope of Nursing Practice

3. Restoring Health
(Curative/ Rehabilitative Care)
> Focuses on the ill client and extends from early
detection of disease through helping the client
during the recovery period.
Nursing activities include the following:
1. providing direct care to the ill person, such as
administering medications, baths, and specific procedures
and treatments.
2. performing diagnostic and assessment procedures such
as measuring BP and examining feces for occult blood.
3. consulting with other health care professionals about client
problems.
4. teaching clients about recovery activities such as
exercise that will accelerate recovery after a stroke.
5.rehabilitating clients to their optimal functional level
following physical or mental illness, injury or chemical
addiction.
Scope of Nursing Practice

4. Care of the Dying

• Involves comforting and caring for people
of all ages who are dying.
• It includes helping as comfortably as
possible until death and supporting persons
to cope with death.
• Nurses’ carrying out these activities work in
homes, hospitals and extended care
facilities.
• Some agencies called hospices are
specifically designed for this purpose.
Scope of Nursing Practice

On Facilitating coping
– Nurses facilitate client & family coping with altered
functions, life, crisis, & death.
– Nurses provide care to both clients & SO during the
terminal illness
– Nurses are becoming, more active in hospice
programs which are developed to assist individuals &
their families in preparing for death & living as
comfortably as possible until death occurs.

Institutions:
Hospice
Long term nursing facilities
Nursing Homes