Nurses' behavioural intentions towards self-poisoning patients: a theory of reasoned action, comparison of attitudes and subjective norms as predictive variables

Background. The incidence of self-poisoning is on the increase. Most patien ts who self-poison are dealt with initially in the general hospital. Theref ore, the type and quality of care self-poisoning patients receive will depe nd, in part, on how they are viewed by nursing staff within the general hos pital setting. A knowledge and understanding of the attitudes held by nurse s towards self-poisoning patients is therefore important to those involved in the planning and delivery of care towards this client group. Previous st udies have examined health care professionals' attitudes towards people who self-poison. Usually, however, these have not focused specifically on nurs es' attitudes, and they have ignored the relationship between the attitudes expressed by staff and their intentions to engage in subsequent caring beh aviour of one sort or another. It is hence unclear how the findings of such studies are relevant or applicable to nursing policy and practice. Aims. The present study aims to address these limitations using a methodolo gy informed by the theory of reasoned action. The study aims to separate ou t the distinctive roles played by nurses' own attitudes, and the social pre ssures represented by other people's attitudes, in determining the types of caring behaviour in which nurses intend to engage when dealing with self-p oisoning patients. Design/Methods. The study adopts a questionnaire-based approach incorporati ng two specially designed vignettes. Results. The results show that nurses' own attitudes, and what they believe about the attitudes of others, predict their behavioural intentions toward s self-poisoning patients. The study also shows that nurses with a more pos itive orientation towards self-poisoning patients differ in behavioural and normative beliefs from nurses who have a less positive orientation. Conclusions. The implications for future attempts to explore the relationsh ip between nurses' attitudes and subsequent caring behaviour are considered , along with implications for nursing policy and practice.