Final answer:
The optimal nursing intervention for a client at risk for heart disease is to encourage weight loss by emphasizing the client's strengths and promoting a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise and a balanced diet. This intervention helps to modify risk factors such as physical inactivity and poor dietary habits, which are major contributors to cardiovascular disease.
Step-by-step explanation:
The best nursing intervention to promote health in a client at risk for heart disease is emphasizing a client's strengths to encourage weight loss. This approach supports the client's self-efficacy and motivates lifestyle changes like increased physical activity and healthy eating, which are critical for cardiovascular health. Regular exercise, such as at least 60 minutes a day, five days a week, has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, nearly by 50%. Moreover, adopting a diet low in saturated fat, sodium, and sugar, and rich in fiber from whole fruits, vegetables, and grains, plays a crucial role in preventing cardiovascular disease.
Educational strategies should include informing the client about the benefits of moderate exercise and a balanced diet, as well as the risks associated with high blood lipids and hypertension. By encouraging the client to take control of modifiable risk factors, the nurse can effectively support the client in preventing or managing heart disease.