BVC-sköterskors tilltro till sin förmåga att påverka föräldrar att främja hälsosamma levnadsvanor hos sina barn : En enkätstudie

Abstract Background: The aim of public health is to create the societal conditions whereby the entire population has an equal opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. The counties of Gävleborg and Dalarna has lower socioeconomic conditions and a higher proportion of children with unhealthy living habits. Child health nurses have an important role to play in promoting health promotion in these counties. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate child health nurses’ confidence in their own ability to influence parents to promote healthy living habits in their children in two counties in Sweden. Method: Data were gathered using parts of an earlier questionnaire measuring child health nurses’ confidence in their own ability to influence parents to promote healthy habits in their children. Data were analysed by descriptive and comparative statistic with Mann-Whitney Utest and Spearman´s correlation. Primary results: The child health nurses rated themselves higher on the questions relating to their confidence in their ability to influence parents regarding eating habits than on the other questions in the questionnaire. The child health nurses rated themselves lowest on the questions concerning limit-setting, regardless of age, experience, education or county. There was a weak but significant correlation between the extent of the child health nurses’ experience and how highly they rated their self-efficacy. Conclusion: The study revealed relatively low self-efficacy in the child health nurses’ ability to influence parents to establish and maintain good habits in their children. Child health nurses with more experience rated their self-efficacy higher in all parts of the questionnaire. Experienced child health nurses need to be given time and space to share their experience with their less experienced colleagues to strengthen the younger nurses’ self-efficacy. Keywords: healthy living habits, child health nurses, self-efficacy, socioeconomic differences, motivational interviews