Registered Nurses' Attitudes Toward Obese Patients: Do Nurses' Self-Image Influence Their Professional Approach?

摘要

Registered nurses' self-image of their own body size may negatively influence their attitudes toward their overweight patients. Such negativity can result in the administration of deficient patient care as well as harmfully impacting obese patients' perception of the modern healthcare system and their motivation to benefit from it. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of self-reported, personal body-image mind-sets on nursing care of obese adult patients, as conveyed by a selected sample of registered nurses in Arizona. Results indicated that overweight and obese registered nurses harbor negative attitudes toward obese adult patients. Most notably, the findings suggested that overweight and obese registered nurses were at risk of modifying their professional approach when caring for obese adult patients. Although the limited sample size of this study impedes generalization, the implications of this study warrant the need for further research.