Nurses have a duty to recognize risk factors, influence and change in behavior andlifestyle of clients. For nurses to effectively teach they have to consider the learnersage, gender, race, sexual ethnicity, religious beliefs if any, learning styles andsocioeconomic statuses. I had a patient last week, 2 days in a row who had surgerythe day before, every time I asked him if he had pain he declined. By the end of theday when I was less busy, I stopped by to check on him and he started aconversation on religion. He got a little comfortable and was able to tell me thatexpressing pain especially to a female is a sign of weakness. We further talked abouthis surgery due to Colon cancer, his father had died of colon cancer and his motherfrom heart attack and how he feared he might die of colon cancer as well. Wediscussed his risk factors as well his wife and 3 children who were obese, heidentified that the families diet mostly included deep fried foods but were trying toavoid sugar and juice in their diet. He continued to say that he had thought of waysto change the diet and work take a walk instead of watching TV since he had hesurgery because it “opened his eyes.” He finished off by saying “go get me thatpain pill.” I asked to schedule his pain medicine instead of PRN as he would not askfor it. I let the patient do most of the talking and answer questions when he askedkeeping in mind his ethnicity and role of men/women. I was sure not to impose mybeliefs on him but be his advocate.ReferencesWomen's Health. Health promotion and disease prevention (n.d.). Retrieved October22, 2015, from Institute of Medicine. (2010, October 5). Retrieved October 3, 2015, from-Change-Advancing-Health.aspxReply|Quote & ReplyOct 22, 2015 11:11 PM0Like