A nurse provides nutrition counseling to a client to prevent high blood pressure. This is an example of which type of health care service?

• A. Restorative care
• B. Primary care
• C. Preventive care
• D. Tertiary care

Answer: (B)

Health promotion and disease prevention are central to primary care. Providing nutrition counseling to prevent high blood pressure means you’re engaging in ongoing, comprehensive care aimed at maintaining health and preventing illness, which is the essence of primary care. This kind of counseling helps modify risk factors—such as diet, weight, and salt intake—to reduce the likelihood of developing hypertension, a preventive goal residents expect from a primary care setting. It reflects the first-contact, coordinated approach where nurses educate patients, support healthy lifestyle changes, and address risk before disease develops.

Restorative care focuses on recovering function after illness or injury, which isn’t the aim here. Tertiary care involves highly specialized, often hospital-based treatment for advanced disease. Preventive care is the broader concept of preventing illness through measures like counseling, screenings, and immunizations, but when it’s provided within the ongoing relationship and broader scope of primary care, it fits best under primary care.