Fundamental of Nursing, Lecture

• Disease is a medical condition that causes distress for a person in the form of symptoms
• Disease is a generic term that includes all disorders, infections, disabilities, and deformities that can afflict human beings
• Disease is a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that has a known cause and a distinctive group of symptoms, signs, or anatomical changes
• Illness is a personal state in which a person feels unhealthy
• In illness, physical, emotional, intellectual, social, developmental, or spiritual functioning is diminished or impaired compared with previous experience
• Illness is a feeling of poor health
• Patients suffer "illnesses"; doctors diagnose and treat "diseases"
• Illnesses are experiences of discontinuities in states of being and perceived role performances
• Diseases, in the scientific paradigm of modern medicine, are abnormalities in the function and/or structure of body organs and systems
• A person can feel ill in the presence or absence of a disease such as cancer or multiple sclerosis
• A patient with leukemia may continue to function as usual, while another patient with leukemia feels well physically but experiences great emotional and spiritual distress
• A person can feel ill even when there is no underlying medical condition
• Many patients who have a disease feel healthy
• Illness includes the holistic effects of diseases and treatments on the patients' functioning and well-being
• Sometimes illness motivates people to adopt healthy behavior
• Illness behavior involves cognitive, affective, and behavioral reactions to diseases influenced by sociocultural and psychological factors
• Illness behavior includes how people monitor their bodies, define and interpret their symptoms, take remedial actions, and use health care resources
• Personal history, social situations, social norms, and past experiences affect illness behavior
• If people perceive themselves to be ill, illness behaviors become coping mechanisms
• Patient with acute disease are likely to seek health care, while patients with chronic disease in which symptoms are partly relieved may be less actively involved in their care
• Variables influencing illness and illness behavior should be understood to plan individualized care for patients
• Heredity, individual practices, physical stressors, and environmental factors are precursors of illness
• Internal variables include a patient's perceptions of symptoms and the nature of a disease, coping skills, and locus of control
• External variables include the visibility of symptoms, social group, cultural background, economic variables, accessibility of health care, and social support
• The transition stage involves the person believing something is wrong and experiencing some symptoms (physical, cognitive, emotional)
• Symptom experience includes acceptance of the illness, seeking advice, and support for decisions to give up some activities
• Assumption of Sick Role involves seeking advice of health professionals for validation of real illness, explanation of symptoms, reassurance, or prediction of outcomes
• Medical Care Contact includes becoming dependent on health professionals, accepting/rejecting health professional's decisions, becoming more passive or accepting, and possibly regressing to earlier behavioral stages
• Dependent patient role involves giving up the sick role and returning to former roles and functions
• Recovery/Rehabilitation aspects of Sick Role include not being held responsible for the condition, being excused from social roles, being obliged to get well as soon as possible, and seeking competent help
• Risk factors are attributes, qualities, environmental situations, or traits that increase the vulnerability of an individual or group to an illness or accident
• The presence of a risk factor does not mean a disease will develop
• Nonmodifiable risk factors include age, gender, genetics, and family history
• Modifiable risk factors include lifestyle practices, choices, behaviors, and stress
• The goal of identifying risk factors is to assist clients in visualizing areas in their life that can be modified or eliminated to promote wellness and prevent illness
• Acute diseases are usually reversible with a short duration, symptoms appear abruptly, are intense, and subside after a relatively short period
• Chronic diseases usually last more than 6 months, are irreversible, affect functioning in one or more systems, and may be life-threatening
• The impact of illness on patients and families can affect the function of the entire family, leading to behavioral and emotional changes
• Short-term, non-life-threatening illnesses evolve few behavioral changes in the functioning of the patient and family
• Severe illnesses have more emotional and behavioral changes