Influence of Perceptions on School Nurse Practices to Prevent Childhood Obesity

    Authors

    J. Sch. Nurs.

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    IEEE Wirel. Commun.

    Keywords

    school nurse knowledge/perceptions/self-efficacy; role; promotion/development; obesity; health/wellness; BODY-MASS INDEX; PERCEIVED BARRIERS; SELF-EFFICACY; CHILDREN; FAMILIES; WEIGHT; HEALTH; Nursing

    Abstract

    Comprehensive childhood obesity prevention (COP) strategies should include increasing school nurse involvement. This study was conducted to determine the influence of key school nurse perceptions (self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers) on participation in COP practices at the individual child and school level. Florida registered nurse (RN) school nurses (n = 171) anonymously completed online or paper questionnaires. Linear regression analyses identified a model of self-efficacy with perceived benefits and barriers that explained 12% and 9.1% (p < .001) of variance in child-level and school-level COP practices, respectively. Self-efficacy explained the most variance in both models (p < .001). Mediation testing identified perceived barriers as a partial mediator of the influence of self-efficacy on child-level practices. These findings support interventions and policy changes to increase self-efficacy and reduce perceived barriers to promote school nurse involvement in preventing childhood obesity.

    Subjects

    S. B. Quelly

    Volume

    30

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    292

    Last Page

    302

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000340719800008

    ISSN

    1059-8405

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