Self-efficacy, which supports self-management
behaviors, increases with the development of each. As
patients gain confidence in their ability to manage
their symptoms, their ability to successfully manage
their condition is likely to improve, further motivating
them, guiding their actions, and sustaining behavioral
changes.19, 20 Nurses can use a self-efficacy scale
to measure patients’ confidence.16, 21 For maximum
success, self-efficacy measures should be behaviorspecific
and target each intervention separately.22 For
example, in determining the self-efficacy of a patient
self-managing urinary incontinence, the nurse would
measure the patient’s confidence in holding urine
when coughing, when sneezing, when laughing, and
when nervous within a predetermined time frame after
the introduction of each new intervention (see
Urinary Incontinence: A Composite Case21).