Health promotion plays an important role in the management of diabetes and chronic kidney disease, especially when the prevalence of the disease is rising in Vietnam. Nurses have been identified to be the front figure in health promotion; however, little is written about how nurses in Vietnam work with these issues. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe nurses' conceptions about how health is promoted, with special focus on physically activity, for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and/or end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Individual interviews were done with 25 nurses working at two major hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. A phenomenographic approach was used to analyse the interviews. Nurses described how creating positive relationships and supporting patients to take part in their social context promoted health. Health was also promoted by educating patients and relatives about health and disease and by supporting patients to be physically active. The findings indicate that the Vietnamese nursing knowledge about health promotion needs to be gathered, and health promotion needs to be further integrated in the education. Further research is necessary to examine patients' knowledge and attitudes about health and the efficiency of various health-promoting strategies in the Vietnamese context.
Keywords: Diabetes and chronic kidney disease; health promotion; in-patient care; nursing; phenomenography; physical activity.