Views of health promotion among primary health care nurses and midwives in Jordan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of Jordanian nurses and midwives working in primary care settings regarding health promotion. Views of health promotion were examined using a descriptive survey design to measure nurses' perceptions of constraints, responsibilities for health promotion, and client's response to health education. All nurses and midwives (n = 104) working in the Irbid Governorate primary health care (PHC) and maternal and child health care (MCH) centers were surveyed and 95% responded. The data revealed that respondents acknowledged their responsibility to provide health activities and that nurses believed that they were better suited than physicians to do so. Fifty percent of respondents did not believe that lack of time was a barrier to carry out health promotion effectively. However, more midwives than nurses were pessimistic about patient teaching, patient acceptance, and the ability of the provider to make a difference in the patient's health behaviors.