Nurses as role models in health promotion: piloting the acceptability of a social marketing campaign.

Aim To pilot the acceptability to practising nurses of the concept of being healthy role models as regards obesity and weight. Background Nursing standards expect nurses to act as role models of professionalism, including maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Many healthcare employers wish to instigate values and social norms about professional behaviour in staff. Methods A mixed methods study comprising two stages. In Stage One, an online survey was used to develop an intervention, which was then evaluated by a rapid intercept survey with open-ended questions. Insights from 71 obese nurses, recruited at a 2016 nursing conference, were used to develop a social marketing campaign encouraging a social norm around professional behaviour as regards healthy lifestyles and obesity, with the message that “first impressions count” in staff-patient encounters. The campaign was tested with 79 nurses at three English hospitals. Results In Stage One, 58% agreed that nurses should be role models and 48% that being obese made the public less likely to trust their public health messages. In Stage Two, the campaign concept of “first impressions count” was widely understood and accepted, but nurses found the introduction of a professional expectation around personal behaviours unacceptable. Conclusion Nurses accept an expectation that they are healthy role models but refute its value when confronted with real-life scenarios. Other aspects of identity were privileged to avoid engaging with the healthy role model message. Personal health behaviour was seen as part of a private domain and not part of their public presentation in professional life.