Continuity Of Care Exam 2 Practice

The main idea here is identifying what the patient can change. Some cardiovascular risk factors are modifiable, meaning they can be altered through behavior, treatment, or lifestyle changes, and the nurse plays a key role in guiding those changes. Smoking is a behavior the nurse can directly address with the patient—offer brief counseling, help set a quit date, connect them with cessation programs, and consider nicotine replacement or other medications. Quitting smoking can quickly improve cardiovascular risk and make other factors (like hypertension) easier to control over time. Age and family history are non-modifiable; they cannot be changed by nursing intervention. Hypertension is modifiable too, but it often requires ongoing treatment and adherence rather than a single, immediate change, so the factor most clearly and directly changeable through nursing support in this scenario is smoking.