Improving Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in NP-Delivered Primary Care

Health promotion and disease prevention are critical to primary care nurse practitioner (NP) practice. However, studies regarding NP-delivered health promotion and disease prevention suggest room for improvement. Many health promotion and disease prevention interventions designed and delivered by NPs focus on educating patients about evidence-based lifestyle recommendations without incorporating behavioral theories and techniques. The purpose of this article is to describe the importance of behavioral theories to NP-delivered primary care, to discuss strategies for the implementation of behavioral theories and techniques into practice, and to present a case study example of an approach to implementation.