In the nursing practice, mass media forms an integral component of health promotion practices in the community. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) has been a health issue globally in recent years, especially in older men. Thus, the nurses can use the mass media to create sensitization. Fernandez (2019) argues that health campaigns significantly increase the awareness of the population. Mass media sensitization messages increase the people’s knowledge and interpersonal discussion among the selected audiences. It changes peoples’ attitudes in attaining better health, which these target populations can encourage other people to adopt the practice. The messages through the mass media also reach much of the targeted audience, and thus they can quickly adopt a behavior change on a selected health practice.
In benign prostate hypertrophy, the nurses can use various forms of social media, such as television, newspapers, magazines, and radio to sensitize the public about the essential concepts of the condition. The health institutions, learning institutions, and all the stakeholders involved should work together to ensure the financial support of the health-related advertisement in these mass media (Fernandez, 2019). These mass media forms present the symptoms of BPH and encourage them to go for regular screening checkups of the condition. BPH can cause health-related complications, such as urinary retention resulting from the bladder and urethral compressions, urinary tract infections (UTIs), cystic damage, and renal damage. Sensitizing the people of the dangers of this condition on the mass media makes them change their behavior by seeking medical intervention earlier enough.
Nursing Assessment Examinations in BPH
Nurses play a significant role in the diagnosis of BPH among the elderly population. The digital rectal exam is a common clinical examination used to evaluate the enlargement extent of the prostate gland (Jarvis & Eckhardt, 2020). Anatomically, the prostate gland is located anterior to the rectum and thus can be palpated by a clinician in a rectal exam. In this examination, the practitioner requests the patient to bend or lie on the side of the inspection table. A lubricated, gloved finger is inserted into the rectum to feel the size of the prostate. A large prostrate indicates BPH or prostate cancer, and thus further tests are required if the clinician finds an enlarged prostate.
Another diagnostic procedure involves the use of antigens to detect BPH or prostate cancer. Wang et al. (2020) showed that PSA is a tumor marker that can be used in the diagnosis of prostate cancer and BPH. A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test detects PSA antigen produced only by the prostate gland. In BPH, the levels of PSA are increased and thus is the most standardized measurement adopted in prostate cancer and BPH detection. In prostate cancer, the PSA elevation is more significant compared to that in BPH. The advantage of using this test is that it is tissue-specific and thus gives the clinician an excellent view of the affected organ. Decreased PSA levels of a patient undergoing treatment suggest an improvement.
There are other minor tests that the nurse can use to confirm an enlarged BPH in a patient. The patient urinates in a container attached to a machine measuring the urinary strength and amount in the urinary flow test (Patel et al., 2020). Nurses use the measurement over time to assess if the patient’s condition is improving under therapeutic management. Post-residual volume test is also another essential diagnostic procedure nurses can incorporate in confirmation of BPH. The test is crucial in measuring the patient’s ability to empty his bladder. The test can be performed in two ways: using ultrasound or inserting a catheter into the bladder after urination to detect the volume of urine left. The 24-hour voiding diary can measure the patient’s amount and frequency of urination.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Pamphlet
References
Fernandez, M. A. (2019). Promoting meal planning through mass media: awareness of a nutrition campaign among Canadian parents | Public Health Nutrition. Cambridge Core. Web.
Jarvis, C., & Eckhardt, A. (2020). Physical examination & health assessment (8th ed.). Elsevier.
Patel, N. R., Elterman, D. S., Thulasidasan, N., Altman, R., Tai, E., Zener, R., Stella, S. F., Annamalai, G., Mafeld, S., & Simons, M. E. (2020). Initial Canadian experience of prostate artery embolization for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia: Midterm outcomes. Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal, 72(4), 876–882. Web.
Wang, Q., Chen, F., Jiang, D., Kabani, A., & Sokoro, A. A. H. (2020). Prostate-Specific Antigen Test Utilization in a Major Canadian City. American Journal of Clinical Pathology. Web.