UK Nurses Delivering Physical Activity Advice: What Are the Challenges and Possible Solutions? A Qualitative Study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Preventive Medicine
• Healthcare Education

Background:

• Regular physical activity (PA) offers significant health benefits.
• NHS nurses play a crucial role in lifestyle and preventive medicine.
• Current implementation of PA advice by nurses is inadequate.

Purpose of the Study:

• Assess NHS nurses' knowledge of current PA guidance.
• Investigate barriers to providing regular PA advice.
• Identify proposed solutions for improving PA advice delivery.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative approach utilizing semi-structured interviews.
• Data collected from 13 NHS nurses between March and August 2023.
• Thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's six-step approach.

Main Results:

• Four major themes and fifteen subthemes identified regarding barriers and solutions.
• Intrinsic barriers: lack of nurse knowledge, PA as an afterthought.
• Extrinsic barriers: time pressures, lack of staff engagement.

Conclusions:

• Proposed solutions include increased staff awareness through teaching and policy.
• Encouraging staff activity and optimizing advice delivery with visual resources are recommended.
• Further research is needed to enhance nurses' PA knowledge and evaluate proposed strategies.