Sensitivity Training for Nurses Caring for Morbidly Obese Patients

Abstract

It is important for nurses to recognize that we need to improve our awareness of our sensitivity in caring for our overweight and obese patients. Obese people experience weight bias and discrimination throughout the American culture. It has been well documented that health-care providers can also be guilty of such biases, which can directly and indirectly affect the quality of health care received by this population.¹ The purpose of this article is to present some of the prejudices nurses may display when caring for these patients and how one can become sensitive to avoiding them. This is a significant part of providing optimal care, as obesity is the “last acceptable prejudice” in our culture today.²