Provide support
The patients did not feel that they were alone with their
problems if they received strong support from the RN.
They experienced a need to talk and felt alone in the endeavor
to change without the discussions. Extremely important
for the patients was not only what was said but
also that they worked with the RN to reach their goals.
A patient pointed out:
It felt as though we did it together…even though the
nurse did not do it…and that felt amazingly good.
(Patient 7)
Without support from the nurses, it would have been
easy to delay the lifestyle change. The patients emphasized
that it was easy to think that they could manage
the change on their own but also that it was often more
difficult than they had imagined, especially if they lacked
support. A patient illustrated the difficulty as:
It absolutely felt as if I could not deal with this myself.
I won’t….. I must have someone to support me.
(Patient 2)
It was most beneficial to have help from outsiders in
making the change. Close friends and family sometimes
nagged or held unrealistically high expectations, and
many became disappointed if the patient did not succeed.
At times, the patients also felt ashamed of their behavior
in front of close family members. According to a
patient:
It’s better to go to an outsider than to someone who is
very much involved, because that is not the same
thing. (Patient 16)
The patients discovered that RNs who work with patients
with a desire to make lifestyle changes have