Fundamentals of Nursing Q 316

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An employer establishes a physical exercise area in the workplace and encourages all employees to use it. This is an example of which level of health promotion?

  

     A. Primary prevention

     B. Secondary prevention

     C. Tertiary prevention

     D. Passive prevention

    

    

Correct Answer: A. Primary prevention

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Primary prevention precedes disease and applies to healthy patients. Primary prevention includes those preventive measures that come before the onset of illness or injury and before the disease process begins. Examples include immunization and taking regular exercise to prevent health problems from developing in the future.

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Option B: Secondary prevention focuses on patients who have health problems and are at risk for developing complications. Secondary prevention includes those preventive measures that lead to early diagnosis and prompt treatment of a disease, illness, or injury. This should limit disability, impairment or dependency and prevent more severe health problems from developing in the future.

Option C: Tertiary prevention enables patients to gain health from others’ activities without doing anything themselves. Tertiary prevention includes those preventive measures aimed at rehabilitation following a significant illness. At this level, health educators work to retrain, re-educate and rehabilitate the individual who has already had an impairment or disability.

Option D: Prevention, as it relates to health, is really about avoiding disease before it starts. It has been defined as the plans for, and the measures taken, to prevent the onset of a disease or other health problem before the occurrence of the undesirable health event.

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