Knowledge of assessment and management of childhood obesity among rural primary care nurse practitioners

Objective: New Mexico nurse practitioners contribute to the prevention and management of pediatric obesity. This study aimed to assess nurse practitioners' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, which were unknown in New Mexico, to counseling frequency in the assessment and management of overweight and obese pediatric patients. This was done using clinical practice guidelines (CPG). The study also sought to learn nurse practitioners' insights on needed resources for clinical practice. Rural and urban nurse practitioners' responses were then compared to the study aims.;Methods: This descriptive pilot study surveyed members of the New Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council (NMNPC) to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, in addition to the counseling frequencies expected to result in patient change. The survey used the platform Qualtrics and measured answers using a four-point Likert scale. Rural and urban comparisons were evaluated for each variable (knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors) in order to investigate relationships. Despite the underpowered sample size, data were analyzed for feasibility of future studies using descriptive statistics, Spearman's Rho Correlation, and Mann-Whitney U testing.;Results: Fifteen nurse practitioners were included in the statistical analysis. The data found the nurse practitioners' self-reported responses exhibited knowledge, positive attitudes, and confident behaviors using pediatric obesity CPGs. The increases in these parameters correlated reported needing a quick CPG tool that can be used in practice. In all, rural nurse practitioners reported a slightly higher usage of pediatric obesity CPGs than urban nurse practitioners.;Conclusion: The feasibility of this study's assessment of nurse practitioners' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors using CPGs will assist in developing interventions to impact patient outcomes. The study also found that resources needed by New Mexico nurse practitioners were similar to those desired by other providers throughout literature. Rural compared to urban nurse practitioners findings indicated the need for further research. Future studies should include all health care providers in New Mexico in order to further explore aims of this study and development of interventions on overweight and obese pediatric CPGs to positively impact practice.