Health Perception and Its Influence on Nursing Practice: A Care-Based Perspective - Essay Sample

Introduction

Behavior is considered as the way one acts or conducts himself/herself, whether positively or negatively, towards others. How an individual views their health may determine or influence their behavior in relation to their health or illness. When it comes to nursing practice, there may be different factors that can lead to such a perception, and they are as relevant as they are influential. Nursing is a care-based practice within which other processes, like diagnosis and treatment, are incorporated in human experiences in both health and illness. Therefore, nursing practices are heavily relied upon when it comes to health and illness. The factors that may influence personal views on health and illness are wide and may vary from scenario to another. Some of the most common factors include:

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• Social factors E.g. education, housing, culture etc.
• Psychological factors such as stress, anxiety, depression etc.
• These factors are discussed in detail below.

Social Factors

Social factors are those that are related to the individual's lifestyle. They can be as a result of the surrounding environment, culture, community, religion, technology, among others. These factors include education, housing, language, and they influence how individual acts or thinks, thus determining their behavior. Daniel et al. (2018), describe social factors as those that someone is born, grow, work, age, and other sets of conditions that shape daily life. They are non- medical factors, and not only do they affect the overall health, but they also affect the health outcomes in various instances. Social factors are often associated with access, allocation, distribution of resources either at the local level, national level, or even globally. The physical and mental health of any individual greatly depends on these non-medical social factors.

When considering individual health and illness, social factors ensure that the individual gets to prioritize what to do and in which sequence or order of priority. For example, the socioeconomic status will, in many instances, be the reference point when an individual needs to choose what kind of health insurance they get. Access, allocation, and distribution of resources, especially in the health care sector, have a bigger part to play in the ratio between the nursing practitioners and the patients. According to Sandra Galea et al. (2011), analysis, over 245,000 deaths in the United States for the year 2000 can be attributed to poor education, 162,000 due to low social support, 133,000 were attributed to poverty, and income inequality had 119,000 deaths attributed to it. These figures show the direct relationship between health, illness, and social factors.

Health is commonly described as an individual's wellbeing, including freedom from the disease according to the individual's perception. Some social factors like culture may shape these perceptions. For example, some cultures might view body weight as a sign of wealth and health, while others might view higher body weights as a form of obesity, which is a health risk. Other cultures may applaud many children per couple, while others may restrict to the minimum. These social factors determined by perception play a role in the health and illness of individuals within these cultures. In the context of nursing practice, factors like social support, education levels, poverty, and income levels shape the perception the patients will have towards these practices and the response these practitioners will have towards their patients. Education levels and social support determine the understanding of the people towards the services intended by the practitioners.

The main purpose of nursing is to ensure the health services are brought to the patients as close as possible. These services are tailored to individual patient needs. One of the biggest hindrances to the realization of this objective is these social factors. Social determinants of health and illness are key components when assessing, diagnosing, intervening, planning, and evaluation at various stages in nursing practices. Lack of proper balancing of these social determinants leads to poor delivery of nursing services and might affect the perception of the patient towards health and illness. To tackle disparities in health care communities, policymakers and nursing practitioners need to take note of the role social factors or determinants play in individual and community health (Daniel et al., 2018).

Psychological Factors

Psychological factors are more of the individual level state of mind. These factors influence the cognitive processes of an individual at different levels and modes. Psychological factors have the same impact across the healthcare system. They can influence negatively or positively both the nurse practitioners and the patient in equal measure. One of the psychological factors widely discussed is stress. Others include hostility, depression, hopelessness, anxiety, among others. Psychological factors have a direct influence on health-related quality of life. This means these factors can have a positive or negative influence on health and illness. Nilsson & Kristenson (2010) confirms that there is a direct relationship between psychological factors and physical, mental, and social health. This relationship between these factors determines the level of quality that a patient will enjoy for the nurse and vice versa. If the nurse has less stress in her daily operations, there is a very high probability that he or she will deliver a quality service to the patient. If the patient is free of these psychological factors then there is a very high chance that they will have a positive attitude towards the system.

Psychological factors like stress affect the mental capacity of an individual, therefore, affecting their thinking processes. These factors are also known to the underlying causes of some very major illnesses. For example, stress increases the risk of diabetes, hypertension, and many known cardiovascular diseases. Psychological factors often influence negatively the way individuals perceive their health and illness. On health, these factors lead to individuals making inconclusive decisions since their state of mind is the most affected. To have a clear cognitive process requires a sober and normally functioning psychological system, and most of these factors have something to do with a dysfunctional psychological system. Salleh (2008) confirms that stress, which is a psychological factor, makes the human body more susceptible to illnesses.

On the other hand, psychological factors have a significant influence on nursing practice, especially nurses. Due to their nature of work, which includes shift work, emergencies, and long hours with possible traumatic experiences, nurses may be the most affected by these factors. "Nursing is, by its very nature, an occupation exposed to stressful workload, which in turn is linked with poor physical and psychological health" (Srinivasan , 2014). According to this statement, it is evident that nurses have to cope with extreme psychological encounters, and this has to affect these nurses in certain ways. They might find themselves more frequently irritable and frustrated, therefore leading to poor well-being. Many times nurses come into contact with patients who are by themselves stressed, resentful, or even frightened. The nurses might undergo verbal abuse and other occupational hazards, and they might develop a negative view of this practice from their perspective. Psychological factors like stress, depression, anxiety may shape or dictate the relationship between the nurse and the patient. These factors determine the temperament between these two parties, who relate to a very highly emotional state and environment. If the nurse has personal psychological issues, then they might not perform their duties well, and this might influence the perception of the patient towards their health and illnesses negatively. On the other hand, if the patient has the same problem and does not make it easy for the nurses, then they it might have the same effect on the nurse and other patients in some cases. Therefore, when it comes to psychological factors, both the nurse and the patient have very significant roles to play to ensure the practice can attain the intended objectives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a person's view on health can be associated with different factors, and this might shape the behavior of the individual as far as health and illness are concerned. The above-discussed factors greatly influence behavior by influencing the perception of both the patients and the nurses. The nursing practice covers very wide parameters; therefore, the influence can originate from anywhere, but most of the time, it originates from the patients. The social factors shape how people behave physically, socially and emotionally. They shape the response of both the patient and the nurse to various situations in health care. Psychological factors, on the other hand, have everything to with the behavior from a cognitive point of view. These factors affect both the nurses and the patient in equal measure since, in health care, there are many psychologically changing instances that can affect any party within the system. Both psychological and social factors have their mitigating frameworks which have been adapted by various stakeholders to ensure the influence these factors have in the nursing practice is positive. Nurses, in many instances, have very strong personalities and qualities that have a bigger influence on their practice. It is these qualities that shape the relationships they make and the connections they have to create between them and their patients. This affects the overall quality of healthcare in many countries, and it is the most significant influence on the nursing practice. The final determinant when it comes to the influence a person's view has on health on illness depends on the individual.

References

Daniel H, Bornstein SS & Kane GC (2018). Addressing social determinants to improve patient care and promote health equity: An American college of physicians position paper. 168:577-578. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.7326/M17-2441

Nilsson, E, & Kristenson, M. (2010). Psychological factors related to physical, social, and mental dimensions of the SF-36: a population-based study of middle-aged women and men. Patient related outcome measures, 1, 153-162.

Salleh M. R. (2008). Life event, stress and illness. The Malaysian journal of medical sciences : MJMS, 15(4), 9-18.

Sandro Galea, Melissa Tracy, Katherine J. Hoggatt, Charles DiMaggio, and Adam Karpati (2011) Estimated Deaths Attributable to United States American. Journal of Public Health , Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2010.300086.

Srinivasan K, Umesh Samuel Dr (2014) Psychological Problem Factors Faced by Staff Nurses Working in Hospitals. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9b9a/b5de860bb35f59b27dd325bb5416cbeb5aa0.pdf