What works to encourage student nurses to adopt healthier lifestyles? Findings from an intervention study

The health and lifestyles of student nurses has been widely explored internationally finding relatively high levels of smoking, low levels of physical activity and unhealthy diets. Not only does this have implications for productivity, personal health and the ability to do the demanding job of nursing, but unhealthy behaviours are also associated with a reluctance to undertake health promotion in their roles. Stress, time constraints and the irregular routine of nurse training were cited as barriers to a healthy lifestyle. Three types of accessible interventions were piloted to encourage the adoption of healthier lifestyles by student nurses: an educational session on having 'healthy conversations' with patients, an accelerometer to record steps, and an online personal wellness tracker. There was low take up of the offers designed to motivate behaviour change but students did welcome the educational input on how to have a 'healthy conversation' with a patient. This project highlights the need to incorporate programmes that addresses student nurses' health behaviours within nurse education, and at salient time points (e.g. induction or just before going on placement) over the course of study.