The Role of Nurse in Promoting Health and Preventing ill Health

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Psychosocial factors that may influence the development of the habit of smoking and drinking in an individual are anxiety and depression where anxiety is a feeling of dread, fear, and uneasiness. Anxiety may stimulate body functioning which may lead to cause heavy sweating, the feeling of restlessness, tension, and rapid heartbeat. Some smokers tend to smoke because smoking makes them feel like relaxing and provides relief from anxiety (Pranata and et. al., 2020). But, it is just a belief and factually smoking enhances stress and anxiety. Smokers have more chances to develop depression in comparison to that non-smokers. Factor of anxiety has a chance to increase the risk of smoking because cigarette smoking impedes chemicals present in the brain. It is majorly the addiction to a cigarette that makes smokers feel anxious and irritable which might get relieved temporarily by just lighting up a cigarette. So, smokers are more likely to feel improvement in their mood with smoking. It is important to understand the fact that preventing the habit of smoking is effective in reducing anxiety and improving mood. Depression is a group of a condition linked to changes in mood i.e. lowering or elevation of an individual. Depression is directly associated with subsequent smoking behavior. Smoking seems to provide calming and relaxing effect by interacting with chemicals in the brain. When an individual feels an elevation in mood, smoking cigarette makes them feel like their stress is being relieved. But actually, administration of nicotine leads to elevating the level of the chemical dopamine in the mesolimbic area which exacerbates mood and improves wellbeing. Increased bioavailability of serotonin, acts as an antidepressant response (Zhao and et. al., 2020). The hypothesis of self-medication states that an individual tends to adopt the habit of smoking to raise their symptoms and therefore, it suggests that symptoms of depression may lead to smoking.

Patients used to live in less affluent areas and many types of research revealed the connection between smoking and lower-income community people. Education and health literacy are the common socioeconomic factors that may influence an individual to get involved in the habit of smoking. Persons with less or a lack of education are less likely to get the opportunity to gain knowledge and create understanding about smoking and its impact on health. People who live in a low economic society and with low financial status are generally not able to access education and get involved in small jobs to fulfill their basic needs (Israel and et. al., 2020). Job stress and lack of money make them more likely to engage in such habits which make them feel relaxed and relieved. Smoking cigarettes during a work break or at the end of the day make them feel like they are rewarding themselves and improving their mental state with something effective enough to reduce their stress and calm their body. Since childhood, children living in a low-income social group are used to seeing their parents and grandparents smoking which somehow promotes them to get involved in smoking tobacco or something more harmful than tobacco like marijuana/ weed, etc.

Health literacy refers to the ability to understand, obtain, and access health information to make important decisions regarding health and medical care. Poor health literacy is more commonly observed in people with racial minorities lower income, low education attainment, and employment status. Poor health literacy is majorly associated with a high incidence of getting involved in smoking and drinking as well as the development of chronic illnesses like Diabetes and Hypertension. Such people have limited access to treatment programs and even prevention of illness. Such people are more likely to involve in harmful health behaviors like less preventive care utilization, poor medication adherence, less cancer screening and majorly report poor health status. They have less knowledge related to any illness (Mihaltan, Rajnoveanu and Rajnoveanu, 2021). Poor access and knowledge of health literacy keep them unaware of the impact of smoking on their body and their functioning. Lack of awareness of knowledge can be marked by considering increasing mortality rates at the global level due to smoking cessation.

Gender and culture are the two demographic factors that influence smoking among adults.Generally, men tend to use tobacco products at higher rates in comparison to women. Gender differences in smoking rate can be related by studying the combination of cultural, physiological, and behavioral factors between both genders. A neuroimaging study has been conducted to find and evaluate the reason for smoking among men and women. It has been suggested that men prefer to smoke to gain the reinforcing effect of nicotine while women smoke for the regulation of mood or in response to cigarette-related cues (Reddy and et. al., 2021). A study has been done to identify the stress response and addiction to smoking among both genders who were trying to quit. It has been revealed that high levels of cortisol are predicted to relapse in women while in men low levels of cortisol are predicted to relapse. As well as it showed that nicotine-containing cigarettes seem to alleviate the symptoms of negative mood and withdrawal as compared to non-nicotinic cigarettes, especially in men. Women were found to experience drug consumption less rewarding than that men as women seem to obtain equal relief from both nicotinic and non-nicotinic cigarettes. Religion is supposed to be the most common cause of the association between smoking and culture. Most religions like Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism take an anti-smoking stance. People with religious activities are generally observed to be less involved in smoking cessation in comparison to the people who are not involved in such activities. For example, among native people of the UK, tobacco has been considered a useful entity that can be used in the process of healing and to attain spiritual purposes (Schnitzer and et. al., 2021). The relationship between culture and smoking recommends that alteration in cultural norms can be effective in making strides in the fight against tobacco. Including educational campaigns in the culture and making people aware of the risks of smoking can effectively reduce the consumption of tobacco among adults. Advertising campaigns and media can reflect negative images of smoking and instituting anti-smoking policies can help enforce strict laws against smoking and reduce smoking rates.

BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Communities) are considered to be at higher risk of getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 infection due to some biologically and socially relevant causes. Ethnicity plays a major role in the transmission of disease because of behavioral, cultural, and societal variations involving health-seeking behavior, lower socioeconomic status, and cohabiting lifestyle. General psychological and stress-related physiological responses seem to impact the health of BAME by increasing the risk of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and infections (Ozemek and et. al., 2018). Obesity can an individual more vulnerable to COVID infection due to dysregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In an obese person, adipose tissues get inflamed which comprises less than 40% of M-1 macrophages, which are the source of an array of pro-inflammatory cytokines resulting in causing local and systemic inflammation. The release of pro-inflammatory factors leads to inflame other cells like dendritic cells, mast cells, and neutrophils due to which chronic inflammation occurs. The major complication of COVID-19 infection is lined with systemic inflammation. Smoking impact the cardiovascular and respiratory system. Improper functioning and any sort of health condition in this system make an individual more likely to get affected by COVID-19. Alcohol intake impact risky behaviors by damaging health, and making an individual more likely to develop the disease or injury. Alcohol consumption effectively decreases immunity hence weakening the response to COVID infection. Health literacy affects the ability to understand the government's advertising campaigns on recognizing symptoms as a lack of knowledge make people unable to understand the fact and reason behind the giving guidelines and policies (Van den Broucke, 2020).

Nurses play a crucial role in advising patients at the time of discharge. Nurses become the closest professional healthcare provider to the patient. Nurses should make a plan and ensure that patients or any of their family members must have complete knowledge about the procedures and medications that need to be followed after taking discharged from the hospital facility (Arango and et. al., 2018). The advice provided by a nurse can prevent the patient from getting captured by infection again and encourage patients to follow preventive measures to improve their lifestyle and promote fast healing and in case of infection fast development of immunity. The limitation might be associated with misunderstanding while providing advice. NMC is the National Medical Commission which defines a code of ethics and lays down policies to ensure that professionals must follow responsibilities and conduct their duties while providing care to the patients. Medical advice given by nurses is also the part of ethics that a nurse should follow.

RCN is the Royal College of Nursing in the UK which indicates all the roles and responsibilities that a nurse holds in their profession. Healthcare apps have many benefits like improving patient engagement, minimizing the risk of misdiagnosis, hassle-free payments, enhanced data management, etc. Nurses are bound to help the patient anytime they seek help because it is their duty as healthcare professionals to be active at the healthcare sites and apps and help people from a distance to provide them with more comfortable and convenient facilities (Campion and et. al., 2020).

Health promotion activities that a patient can signpost to may include advising to adopt a healthy lifestyle and advice on whether the need to change medication or not after a specific period. A patient can seek advice regarding eating habits, physical exercise, preventive measures that need to be taken, etc. The most affected factors of patient-centered care are respect, physical comfort, access to care, emotional support, information and communication, care coordination, continuity and transition as well as the involvement of family and carers. Person-centered care is identified as a foundation to provide high-quality healthcare with safety. Nurses are responsible to seek out and understand the needs of the patient, establish a good mutual relationship, fostering trust, and encourage a culture of working together in proper coordination with good cooperation at different levels. Person-centered approaches proved to be very effective in making many improvements in safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness (Fancourt and Finn, 2019). Get assignment help at the best price.

CONCLUSION

From the above report, it has been concluded that smoking and drinking can impact the health of an individual to a great extent. In this report, many factors have been highlighted that influence the habit of smoking among an individual which includes anxiety, depression, lack of knowledge, and poor health literacy among minorities and population of low economic status. Nursing staff in medical facilities plays a vital and significant role in providing the best and most effective care to patients. Nurses should provide genuine and effective advice to the patient during their discharge to ensure better health for the patient and prevent the patient from getting ill from any infection or disease.

Read Also: The Role of Nurse in Promoting Health and Preventing ill Health

REFERENCES

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• Campion, J., Javed, A., Sartorius, N. and Marmot, M., 2020. Addressing the public mental health challenge of COVID-19.The Lancet Psychiatry,7(8), pp.657-659.
• Fancourt, D. and Finn, S., 2019. What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being?.
• Israel, A., Feldhamer, E., Lahad, A., Levin-Zamir, D. and Lavie, G., 2020. Smoking and the risk of COVID-19 in a large observational population study.MedRxiv.
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• Ozemek, C., Laddu, D.R., Lavie, C.J., Claeys, H., Kaminsky, L.A., Ross, R., Wisloff, U., Arena, R. and Blair, S.N., 2018. An update on the role of cardiorespiratory fitness, structured exercise and lifestyle physical activity in preventing cardiovascular disease and health risk.Progress in cardiovascular diseases,61(5-6), pp.484-490.
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• Schnitzer, K., Jones, S., Kelley, J.H., Tindle, H.A., Rigotti, N.A. and Kruse, G.R., 2021. A qualitative study of the impact of COVID-19 on smoking behavior for participants in a post-hospitalization smoking cessation trial.International journal of environmental research and public health,18(10), p.5404.
• Van den Broucke, S., 2020. Why health promotion matters to the COVID-19 pandemic, and vice versa.Health promotion international,35(2), pp.181-186.
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• Zhao, Q., Meng, M., Kumar, R., Wu, Y., Huang, J., Lian, N., Deng, Y. and Lin, S., 2020. The impact of COPD and smoking history on the severity of COVID‐19: A systemic review and meta‐analysis.Journal of medical virology,92(10), pp.1915-1921.

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