One of the most important goals of nurses is to contribute to positive changes in patients’ lifestyles, as well as to the improvement of their health behaviors. Much attention should be paid to motivating individuals to follow a healthy lifestyle or make necessary adjustments because of certain conditions (Carr, 2017). The reason is that such changes need to be part of patients’ treatment plans. In this case, nurses are expected to serve as both educators for patients and role models who can demonstrate the benefits of making required adjustments.
The key elements that are critical for motivating patients to change their behaviors and address health goals include support, illustration, and evidence. It is important to demonstrate support for clients when educating them on a new health behavior to adopt. Furthermore, it is also necessary to illustrate the desired and expected changes in a patient’s health with the help of case studies in order to explain what negative and positive outcomes can be achieved (Huston, 2019). Finally, it is also required to base arguments on scientific evidence that should be effectively explained to clients because nurses represent the bridge between a patient and scientific literature.
Moreover, nurses should involve family members in stimulating patients to change their daily practices. The assistance and support of relatives are critical because they can also become involved in adopting new health behaviors. In these cases, the chances to achieve positive outcomes for a patient are high (Huston, 2019). If family members do not understand the importance of changing lifestyles and providing help to individuals with certain illnesses, patients can experience significant stress and barriers. Therefore, nurses should communicate with family representatives to resolve these issues.
References
Carr, D. D. (2017). Motivational interviewing supports patient centered-care and communication. Journal of the New York Nurses Association, 45(1), 39-43.
Huston, C. J. (2019). Professional issues in nursing: Challenges and opportunities (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.