title: Surveying the hidden attitudes of hospital nurses' towards poverty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the attitudes held by registered nurses about persons living in poverty.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  As a profession, nursing has strong commitment to advocating for the socioeconomically disadvantaged. The links among poverty and health disparities are well established and research demonstrates that attitudes of providers can influence how those in poverty use health services. Although nurses are the largest sector of healthcare providers globally, little research has been published on their attitudes towards patients they care for who live in poverty.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Used a convenience sample of 117 registered nurses who completed the Attitudes Towards Poverty Short Form that contained three subscales. Regression analysis was used to examine the associations between the nurses' age, education, and years of experience, political views and financial security with their total score and subscale scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nurses were more likely to agree with stigmatising statements than statements that attributed poverty to personal deficiency or structural factors. In the multivariate analysis, years of experience were associated with more positive attitudes towards those living in poverty. Nurses with the most experience had less stigmatising beliefs about poverty and were more likely to endorse structural explanations. Those with a baccalaureate education were also more likely to endorse structural explanations for poverty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gaining knowledge about attitudes towards and the factors influencing those attitudes, for example, education, are important in helping combat the disparities associated with poverty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurses have a duty to evaluate their individual attitudes and biases towards those living in poverty and how those attitudes and biases may influence daily practice. Assessing nurses' attitudes towards poverty may aid in better means of empowering nurses to seek solutions that will improve health conditions for those living in poverty.
authors.affiliation: Robinson Memorial Hospital, Ravenna, OH, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wittenauer
authors.affiliation: Robinson Memorial Hospital, Ravenna, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ludwick
authors.affiliation: Family & Community Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Kent, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baughman
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fishbein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D009820:Ohio; D011203:Poverty; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: attitudes; health disparities; health inequities; nurses; poverty