Health, Illness, and Wellness 1

Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Wellness

Taylor Hughes

Introduction to Nursing Professor Raelene Shippee-Rice October 22, 2012

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Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Wellness Nursing is a career in which nurses deal with all sorts of people who will be in all sorts of conditions. As a nurse the main goal is to help people be in the greatest health condition possible for them, while also helping them be mentally well. Many patients, especially when working in a hospital setting, are going to be ill. These patients are seeking help from a nurse to make them well and healthy. However, this is not always an easy or even a possible task sometimes. As a nurse it is important to understand what each of these three words means and represents in order to help a patient to the greatest ability and be an advocate for him or her. 1. What is health? 2. What is illness? 3. What is wellness? 4. How do health, illness, and wellness shape nursing? Throughout this paper the following questions will be discussed and answered. What is health? There are multiply definitions of what the word health means. The New Oxford Dictionary of English defines health as, a state of being free from illness or injury (Definition of Health). Where as other references, such as The World Health organization, defines health as, a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World Health Organization, 2012). Both of these definitions are similar in some aspects, yet different in others. The Oxford Dictionary does not specify whether or not illness or injury is physical, mental, or social. The WHO takes an extra step in their definition to specify this little but very

Health, Illness, and Wellness 3 important detail. In my personal opinion I believe that health is being able to be live life with out aliments that stop you from having a clear mind, body, and soul. What is illness? Illness can be looked at from many perspectives. A person could be mentally or physically ill and along with illness comes many different emotions. People can display feelings of guilt, anxiety, and even anger (Saunders, 2001). Certain sources give illness a definition such as The New Oxford Dictionary. They define illness as a disease or period of sickness affecting the body or mind (Definition of Illness). Another source said that illness is classified into two categories, acute and chronic. Acute illness is characterized by severe symptoms that are relatively short lived and chronic illness is characterized by gradual development of symptoms that are long-lived (Saunders, 2001). I dont believe a definition can define what illness is. The definitions that have been given to the word illness are objective, where as a person experiencing an illness can only explain it subjectively. It is said that pain is in the eye of the beholder and personally I think that illness is in the eye of the beholder. Only the person experiencing the illness can understand how ill they are and what they are going through. What is Wellness? People may say that health and wellness are interchangeable however there are distinct differences in the two words. Health means to be without disease or illness whereas with wellness you could have a disease or illness and still be well. Wellness is a changeable personal experience. Two people with the same disease could think completely different about their well-being. One could believe they are very well and living life with the disease and the other person could believe just the opposite, that their

Health, Illness, and Wellness 4 disease is stopping them from living. One article on health and wellness describes wellness as the proper harmony and balance resulting from promoting the well-being of all the different facets, constitutive elements or domains of existence of a person (Kirsten, T.G.J.C., 2009). The New Oxford English dictionary gives a similar definition, they say that wellness is, the state or condition of being in good physical and mental health (Definition of Wellness). All three of these definitions of wellness are along the same premises. Wellness is a mental state of mind and only each individual person can determine his or her own wellness. How do health, illness, and wellness shape nursing? Nursing is a complex field because every person is different. One person may perceive pain this way and another person may perceive pain that way. As a nurse it is important to take what the patient says literally. When caring for a patient that is ill only the patient can understand what he or she is going through and feels. It is important as the nurse to have empathy for this patient and try to help this patient as much as possible to bring them back to a baseline state of health. A major consideration that I feel is over looked when caring for a patient is their well-being. Just because a patient is the healthiest they are going to get nurses cannot stop there. A patient may be cleared from a disease or illness but mentally their well-being could be not well at all. They could still be experiencing fear, anger, anxiety, or many other emotions because of their past illness/disease that are causing them not to be well. It is important to talk to patients and find out where they are in terms of well-being. If a patient is not in a state of well-being then the nurses job is not complete, they have not made that patient better to their fullest ability. This may not be in a nurses scope of practice to help this patient but there are

Health, Illness, and Wellness 5 resources that they can offer their patient to help them restore their sense of wellness. These three words shape the field of nursing because together they make up what nurses do. Being able to understand these concepts and how to apply them to practice is an important aspect to being a good nurse and patient advocate.

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References

Definition of Health - Physiological State and Toast. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/health?region=us&q=h ealth Definition of Illness - Illness and Pathology. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/illness?region=us&q=il lness Definition of Wellness. (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_ english/ wellness?region=us&q=wellness Kirsten, T.G.J.C., Van der Walt, H.J.L. & Viljoen, C.T. (2009). Health, well- being and wellness: An anthropological eco-systemic approach. Health SA Gesondheid 14(1), Art. #407, 7 pages. DOI: 10.4102/hsag.v14i1.407 Saunders. (2011). Illness, Culture, and Caring: Impact on Patients, Families, and Nurses [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from University of New Hampshire Blackboard Site: https://blackboard.unh.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_19_1 &url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse %26id%3D_140679_1%26url%3D

Health, Illness, and Wellness 7 World Health Organization. (2012). Health Systems Strengthening Glossary. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://www.who.int/healthsystems/hss_glossary/en/index5.html