Paper
Thursday, July 14, 2005
School Nurses' Capacity and Preparation to Promote Healthy Weight Programs in Primary Schools in Taiwan
Pei-Lin Hsieh, MSc, PhD, School of Nursing, Chang Gung Institute of Technology, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan, Taiwan
| Learning Objective #1: Describe school nurses' contribution in healthy weight programs in Taiwan |
| Learning Objective #2: Explain the roles of school nurses in health promotion |
The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which school nurses in Taiwan are prepared to contribute to HWPs in schools. Survey design was chosen and a questionnaire developed The School Nurses and Healthy Weight Programs: Capacity Questionnaire was administered to 490 Taiwanese school nurses to undertake this exploration. The questionnaire was developed based on earlier work by the researcher, a comprehensive literature review, and was subjected to expert scrutiny by two panels from Australia and Taiwan. In order to ensure a rigorous process of translation the cross-cultural translation technique described by Vallerand's (1989) has been adapted in this study. Statistical data was analysed using descriptive, pairwise correlation, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and frequencies techniques. Content analysis was used to analyse non-statistical data. The results indicate that generally, school nurses had a good knowledge base; viewed HWPs as important; had confidence in required roles after additional training provided; considered skills as important in HWPs; perceived their professional preparation as good. However, they had few incentives and perceive significant barriers to their contribution to HWPs. The perceived barriers include: low status of school nurses; lack of support structures and processes; poor resources; lack of a teamwork in conducting HWPs; and lack of involvement in the management of the HWPs. There is a list of recommendations for improving the ability of school nurses to contribute to HWPs. They involve initiatives that centre on the school nurses as a body, health promoting teams in schools and government. Further study for cross-cultural comparisons is recommended as childhood obesity is a global problem and the potential for school nurses internationally to network and clarify their roles in relation to health promotion is overdue.