Reference no: EM134006089
Question
In nursing, a concept refers to phenomena that occur in the practice or in thought of practice. Concepts can be abstract or concrete. Concepts have been described as the building blocks of nursing theory. It is observed how abstract and concrete concepts get pulled into the various levels of nursing theory (McEwen and Wills, 2023).
There are various types of concepts including ones that are theoretically and operationally defined. A concept from this category I often encounter in my nursing practice is the idea of health literacy. The theoretical definition of health literacy is the ability of a person to understand and process their basic health information. Health literacy is measure of the personas ability to make their own health decisions (McEwen & Wills, 2023). I chose this concept because as nurses, we very often are educating our patients on all aspects of their care. It is important for the nurse to understand the level of a patient's health literacy to know how to best provide them information. This concept is so important for the patient because it can directly impact their health outcomes.
A relatively recent concept in healthcare, health literacy is becoming a integral part of patient centered care. With how health care is becoming more and more complex, there has been a focus on improving health literacy. There have been many studies that have found links between general education, health literacy, and health outcomes (Boslaugh, 2022). There is an overall consensus of the meaning of health literacy. At is core, the concept remains the same. Naturally, it will continue to evolve as the healthcare world evolves around it.
The concept health literacy will help direct future research, theory, and practice. Using social context and having a understanding of public health literacy, future work can broaden the public's understanding of important health information. This concept helps support various populations that suffer from health disparities. Through a decrease in misinformation and proper education, nurses can use the concept of health literacy to improve the health outcomes of the populations they serve ( Agner, et al., 2024)