Question

Difficulty: MediumHealth Promotion and Disease Prevention

A medical-surgical nurse is providing discharge education to a 58-year-old client recently diagnosed with stage II chronic kidney disease and essential hypertension. The client asks the nurse for strategies to manage the new diagnoses and prevent further renal damage. To correctly implement a tertiary disease prevention strategy, what specific instruction must the nurse provide?

  1. Record your blood pressure at home daily and strictly adhere to your prescribed antihypertensive medication schedule.Answer
  2. B
    Schedule a fasting blood glucose test and lipid panel every six months to detect the early onset of metabolic disorders.
  3. C
    Understand that occasional episodes of sudden confusion and memory loss are normal physiological changes expected at your age.
  4. D
    Proceed immediately to the nearest emergency department if you experience mild fatigue or minor changes in your sleep pattern.

Answer

The instruction to record blood pressure daily and adhere to antihypertensive medications.
Tertiary prevention focuses on minimizing the progression and complications of an already established disease. For a client with diagnosed chronic kidney disease and hypertension, strict blood pressure control through consistent monitoring and medication adherence is a core tertiary intervention that directly prevents further target-organ damage.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the client's clinical profile and the nurse's goal.
The client has existing, diagnosed conditions (stage II chronic kidney disease and hypertension). The goal is to apply a 'tertiary' disease prevention strategy.
Identifying the baseline health status dictates which level of prevention is clinically appropriate.
2
Define tertiary disease prevention in the context of nursing practice.
Tertiary prevention focuses on minimizing the progression, complications, and disability associated with an already established disease.
Differentiating primary (preventing disease), secondary (early detection/screening), and tertiary (managing existing disease) prevention is required to select the correct intervention.
3
Evaluate the options against the definition of tertiary prevention and sound clinical judgment.
Managing blood pressure directly slows the progression of existing kidney disease, fitting the definition of tertiary prevention. The other options describe secondary screening, dangerous dismissal of pathological symptoms, or inappropriate triage.
Matching the correct definition to the clinical action ensures safe and effective client education.

Key Concept

Levels of Disease Prevention: Tertiary Prevention
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