Nursing Interventions

Nurses have two main roles in treating obesity - education and support. Education might consist of discussions of the potential impact of obesity on health, a safe calorie restricted diet, guidelines for exercise, recommendations for assessing personal hydration, reasonable expectations for a weight loss timeline, and access to resources for additional support or counsel. Support addresses the psychosocial aspects of obesity - patients must feel accepted and not disrespected by their health care providers. As a sort of chronic disease, obesity requires long-term treatment and frequent check-ups. This is not a one-stop visit sort of thing, it requires coordination of care and initiative to maintain contact with patients.

Another important role for nurses is to assess the patient's situation - how they perceive their own weight and health (and how others close to them perceive these things), what their habits are, how they go about their daily life, and if they are impaired in any way by their weight. From this initial assessment, the nurse may be able to begin considering interventions to work with the patient's specific needs - for instance, if a patient recognizes that they binge eat when they are emotionally distressed, the nurse may work to redirect that habit to something less harmful, like calling a friend to talk or doing a calming mental exercise. Or the nurse may discover that a patient doesn't exercise because they have poor vision and fear tripping in their living environment. The nurse may arrange for an optometrist appointment to update glasses prescriptions, and a home visit to assess the safety of the home.

Another significant role of nurses in fighting obesity is preventing it. Every patient that a nurse sees is an opportunity for education in the importance of maintaining overall health through appropriate diet and exercise. Even small steps in the right direction make a big difference.

Of course, none of this is straightforward or easy, otherwise obesity would likely not be the problem that it is. Nurses can participate in research of the issue to promote better understanding of how obesity can be treated and how it may be prevented.

Lewis, S. L. (2014). Obesity. In Harding M. M. (Eds.), Medical-Surgical Nursing - Assess and Management of Clinical Problems. (pp. 906 - 922). St. Louis, Elsevier.