Barriers that Hinder Caring of Obese Patients  in the Intensive Care Unit

Background: Nurses hardly tried to provide professional care in safely and concerned manner for obese patients
but they encounter barriers when caring for them . These barriers must be identified for providing safe and
quality health care for these patients. Aim: This study aimed to assess barriers that hinder caring of Obese
Patients in the intensive care units. Research design: A descriptive exploratory design was utilized to achieve
aim of the study. Setting: The study was conducted at the Intensive Care Units in Sayed Galal Hospital. Subject:
A Convenient sample of (96) nurses in different category of intensive care units and purposive sample of 96
obese patients that present at the time of the study. Tools: Three tools were used in this study, Tool I: Patient
demographic characteristics and medical data. Tool II: Nurses self-administered questionnaire which included
two parts. Part I: Nurses demographic characteristics, Part II: Nurses’ knowledge assessment questionnaire, Part
III: Nurses’ knowledge assessment questionnaire. Tool III: Barriers assessment questionnaire for care of obese
patients which included two parts. Part I: Barriers assessment questionnaire regarding clinical practice, Part II:
Barriers assessment questionnaire regarding equipment. Results: The majority of the studied nurses had
satisfactory total knowledge regarding obesity and about two third of them had high barriers in caring of obese
patients. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant positive correlation between total knowledge and total
barriers scores of the studied nurses. Recommendation: Provide clear protocol, practice standards, educational
programs and ongoing training for nurses about Care of obese patients.