Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Committee Chair
Tracy Arnold
Abstract
A quantitative research study was conducted to determine body consciousness of plastic surgery nurses and other employees of plastic offices. The theoretical basis was the Objectification Theory that states that a person is at risk of being viewed as an object. Social and other media has made an impact on how a person views themselves and others and it has also glamourized plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures. The social media explosion of the past decade has changed the way the public perceives their image. Nurses working in plastic surgery are exposed to body objectification on a daily basis and it is their responsibility to care for and educate clients who may have low self-esteem and body consciousness. The PI was interested to see if this had any effect on the employees and their own body consciousness and to see if they were at risk of objectifying patients and themselves. A survey was given to four plastic surgery groups in Charlotte, NC to distribute amongst employees. Forty-two survey participants responded to the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) that was provided to them in a hard copy format and returned to the PI for statistical analysis. While the results did not provide the response the PI was expecting, they did identify new gaps in nursing research. Plastic surgery patients have been the subject of numerous research studies but plastic surgery nurses have not been studied. This is an important gap because the field is becoming more popular and there are more nursing roles being identified in this field.
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Citation Information
Alexander, Jodie, "Body Consciousness of Clinical Staff Working in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Environments" (2018). Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects. 325.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/nursing_etd/325