Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mary Martin

Abstract

Research has shown that educational programs have led to developing the professional skills and behaviors of front-line health care providers who care for overweight or at-risk obese patients. The purpose of this project was to provide an educational program on best practices for weight management to health care providers at a large military clinic. The project question was developed to assess whether the educational program increased the knowledge and confidence of health care providers in the management of obesity. Utilizing Pender's health promotion model, a quasi-experimental study was conducted in which 15 health care providers, including licensed and unlicensed personnel at a large military clinic, voluntarily participated. Participants attended three one-hour group training or one-on-one training as well as one hour of training on health provider education on the management of obesity. To measure the participant's confidence and agreement in obesity management, a 20-item pre-/posttest intervention survey was administered. A t test did not show a significant increase in confidence scores. Agreement scores about how to manage obesity changed differently from pre to post for the groups; decreased from 89.5 to 86.3 for primary care practitioners and declined from 74.0 to 72.6 for registered nurses but increased from 64.8 to 86.3 for military medics. ANOVA was conducted to test if there is any difference in their confidence level among the participants' groups. The results of ANOVA were not significant (F = 2.48, p = .125), likely due to the small sample size. The implications for positive social change include the potential for training military nurses to promote nonpharmacological initiatives, such as weight management, and helping patients prevent other related diseases.

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