Chew-Graham, Carolyn, Dixon, Rebecca, Shaw, Jonathan W et al. · BMC nursing · 2009 · DOI
This study asked 29 practice nurses (nurses who work in doctor's offices) about their understanding and views of ME/CFS. The researchers found that most nurses knew very little about ME/CFS, had not received formal training, and some held negative attitudes toward the condition. While nurses thought they could help manage ME/CFS patients, they often didn't understand the best evidence-based treatments available.
This study identifies critical barriers to accessing care at the primary care level, where NICE guidelines recommend ME/CFS management should occur. Understanding healthcare providers' negative attitudes and knowledge gaps is essential for developing training programs and improving patient experiences in one of the first points of contact with the healthcare system.
This study does not prove that negative nurse attitudes directly cause poor patient outcomes, nor does it establish the prevalence of these views across all practice settings or regions. It also does not evaluate whether training interventions can actually change attitudes or improve patient management in practice.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Chew-Graham, Carolyn, Dixon, Rebecca, Shaw, Jonathan W, Smyth, Nina, Lovell, Karina, & Peters, Sarah (2009). Practice Nurses' views of their role in the management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalagic Encephalitis: a qualitative study.. BMC nursing. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6955-8-2
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-chew-graham-2009-practice-nurses,
author = {Chew-Graham, Carolyn and Dixon, Rebecca and Shaw, Jonathan W and Smyth, Nina and Lovell, Karina and Peters, Sarah},
title = {Practice Nurses' views of their role in the management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalagic Encephalitis: a qualitative study.},
journal = {BMC nursing},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1186/1472-6955-8-2},
note = {PubMed: 19161604},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/chew-graham-2009-practice-nurses},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/chew-graham-2009-practice-nurses
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.