What is nurses' awareness of physical health literacy and their responsibilities?

Abstract

Aim 1. To discover what current literature says about health literacy in British adults and how nurses are involved. 2. To explore nurses' awareness of their responsibilities around physical health literacy. Background: Good physical health literacy is a critical determinant of health and wellbeing but is often ignored or overlooked. Current literature suggests that this is a developing area of research but has not been adequately addressed in the United Kingdom. Nurses have a legal and professional responsibility to improve physical health literacy but may not be aware of the issue or how to address it. Design: An explorative, observational quantitative study Method: An online questionnaire exploring nurses' views and opinions around physical health literacy and their responsibilities was designed. The potential sample includes registered nurses currently working in NHS Lothian. The results will be analysed and presented using descriptive statistics. Relevance to practice: Improving nurses' awareness of physical health literacy and their responsibilities can lead to better person-centred care and person-centred outcomes. If nurses are aware of low physical health literacy issues, they will recognise when issues arise and know how to prevent difficulties. This results in better care, less health inequality, and better health and wellbeing for patients and their families.