Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Towards nutritional care among hospitalized patients in Saudi Arabia 2024

Abstract

Background: Concern is growing about the occurrence of malnutrition in hospitals throughout the developed world. Reduced involvement of nurses in patients' nutritional care may be one of the contributing factors.Although nurses are among the most trustworthy providers of nutritional information for patients, not much study has been done on nurses' knowledge of their critical role in nutritional care.This study aimed to:assess nurses' knowledge, attitudes and practices towards nutritional care among hospitalized patients in Saudi Arabia 2024. Methods:A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from January toAugust 2024. The sample size consisted of 110 nurses based on the statistical data obtained from the nursing offices of two hospitals in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. A four-part questionnaire was used in this study. Results:the present study showed that 73.6% had high Knowledge of study participant, 45.5% had moderate practices of study participant, and 58.2% had a positive attitude of study participant about nutritional support. Age and level of education had a significant correlation with their knowledge (P = 0.005 and P = 0.001, respectively). Nursing attitude had a significant correlation with age and the level of education (P = 0.03 and P = 0.003). And also, nursing practice had a significant relationship with age, work experience in the ICU, and the level of education (P = 0.001, P = 0.001 and P = 0.004, P < 0.05).Conclusion:The nurses who participated in this study's survey had a favorable attitude, moderate practice, and excellent knowledge of nutritional care for hospitalized patients.