Health behaviours and attitudes towards being role models

Abstract

Nurses are often viewed by the general public as role models for health. This study investigated health behaviours in pre-registered nurses and their attitudes towards being role models to their patients. In total, 540 pre-registered nurses self-reported their level of physical activity, smoking habits, alcohol intake and dietary habits.Overall, 24% were overweight or obese, 47% were not physically active enough to benefit their health, 73% did not eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day, 40% reported binge drinking and 17% were smokers. However, respondents commonly held the belief that nurses should be role models for health, although opinions varied according to the individual's own health profile. Despite being educated in health promotion practice, health behaviours were less than exemplary in this sample and for many, appeared contradictory to participant's beliefs that nurses should be exemplars for health. Nursing education should emphasise the importance of translating learning to their own health behaviours to support a healthy future NHS workforce.

Association of rotating night shift with lipid profile among nurses in an Egyptian tertiary university hospital

“…This confirms the findings of Naidoo et al, who reported poor physical activity levels among nurses in South Africa (11). These findings are supported by other studies that found that nurses do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity required for health benefit (12). Our study showed that the majority of participants ate semi-healthy food; some ate unhealthy food such as processed meat, sweets, caffeinated beverages, and meat or poultry with skin; and others ate healthy food like fruit and vegetables.…”

Paediatric nurses' attitudes towards the promotion of healthy eating

“…Although most nurses did not feel under particular pressure to be perfect role models, there was a prevailing attitude that nurses in general should be role models for health, and should engage in positive lifestyle behaviours themselves. This is consistent with the attitudes of preregistered nurses in all fields of nursing (Chalmers et al, 2002;Blake and Harrison, 2013).…”

“…The authors do not have any information on the health behaviours, attitudes or beliefs of non-respondents and the response rate was low (perhaps due to data being collected around the time of a largescale trust staff survey). However, the sample was relatively representative of the paediatric nurse population at the participating hospital trust and reported opinions are consistent with those found in other nursing samples (Blake and Harrison, 2013).…”

“…This form of 'cognitive dissonance', between health-related behaviour or health status and beliefs, has emerged among preregistered nurses in all branches of nursing (Blake and Harrison, 2013).…”

“…With ongoing attention to the health and wellbeing of NHS employees (DH, 2009), workplace-wellness schemes in NHS settings are on the increase and have shown potential for health improvement (Bull et al, 2008;Blake et al, 2013) through individual and group-level health interventions and campaigns aiming to monitor health, increase physical activity, improve diet, promote smoking cessation, reduce stress and support positive mental wellbeing. Efforts need to be made to build selfefficacy for engaging in healthy behaviours and self-efficacy for health promotion among paediatric nursing staff -particularly those in less senior roles, since selfefficacy levels increased with seniority, and lower confidence for health promotion was reported more frequently among those in less senior roles.…”