Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Northern Light Health, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, WOW Pediatric & Adolescent Weight & Cardiometabolic Clinic, Bangor, ME, USA.
J Pediatr Nurs. 2021 Jul-Aug;59:75-80. doi: 10.1016/j.pedn.2021.01.007. Epub 2021 Jan 23.
Weight bias towards individuals with obesity exists among medical professionals; yet, there is less evidence of the extent to which weight biases exist in different types of nursing professions. This study aimed to describe pediatric surgery and school nurses' weight biases towards children with obesity and examine factors associated with weight biases.
Pediatric surgery (n = 108) and school nurses (n = 177) completed a single online survey that assessed their attitudes towards weight regarding children with obesity. Responses were categorized as % agreement (responded "agree" or "strongly agree" to a given statement). Nurses also reported % time spent working with children who had obesity.
Almost all nurses (>93%) agreed it was important to treat patients with obesity with compassion and respect. However, many nurses endorsed statements stating that patients with obesity are often non-compliant with treatment recommendations (47%) and can be difficult to deal with (35%). Only about half of school nurses (53%) and surgical nurses (56%) felt professionally prepared to effectively treat patients with obesity. Nurses commonly reported hearing/witnessing other professionals in their field make negative comments (69%) or convey negative stereotypes (55%) about patients with obesity. School nurses who spent a greater % of time working with children with overweight had more positive weight attitudes (p = 0.04).
Negative attitudes towards patients with obesity were relatively prevalent in this population of pediatric surgery and school nurses.
There is a need for more educational opportunities, professional trainings, and policy initiatives to reduce weight bias among nurses.
医疗专业人员普遍存在对肥胖个体的体重偏见；然而，对于不同类型的护理职业中存在的体重偏见程度，证据较少。本研究旨在描述小儿外科和学校护士对肥胖儿童的体重偏见，并探讨与体重偏见相关的因素。
小儿外科护士（n=108）和学校护士（n=177）完成了一项单一线上调查，评估他们对肥胖儿童体重的态度。反应分为%同意（对给定陈述回答“同意”或“强烈同意”）。护士还报告了与肥胖儿童一起工作的时间百分比。
几乎所有护士（>93%）都认为以同情和尊重的态度对待肥胖患者很重要。然而，许多护士认可了一些陈述，即肥胖患者经常不遵守治疗建议（47%），并且难以处理（35%）。只有约一半的学校护士（53%）和外科护士（56%）认为自己有足够的专业能力有效地治疗肥胖患者。护士经常报告听到/目睹他们所在领域的其他专业人员发表关于肥胖患者的负面评论（69%）或表达负面刻板印象（55%）。花费更多时间与超重儿童一起工作的学校护士对体重的态度更为积极（p=0.04）。
在小儿外科和学校护士这一人群中，对肥胖患者的负面态度相对普遍。
需要更多的教育机会、专业培训和政策举措，以减少护士的体重偏见。
