Biomaterial Database

Nutritional care of the patient: nurses' knowledge and attitudes in an acute care setting. 1999

I Kowanko, and S Simon, and J Wood

Department of Clinical Nursing, University of Adelaide, Australia. inge.kowanko@post.flinders.edu.au

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. This study explored nurses' attitudes and knowledge about nutrition and food service in hospital. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven nurses from the internal medical service of a large Australian acute care hospital. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that many nurses lacked the in-depth knowledge needed to give proper nutritional care to their patients. Although nurses considered nutritional care to be important many had difficulty in raising its priority above other nursing activities, as a result of time constraints and multitasking issues. Several problems relating to food service arrangements were also highlighted. The findings suggest a need to raise nurses' awareness of the importance of nutrition in patient outcome. This study provides information which will guide in-service nurse education programs about nutrition, and suggests strategies for practice and organizational change.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007318	Inservice Training	On the job training programs for personnel carried out within an institution or agency. It includes orientation programs.	Employee Orientation Programs,Orientation Programs, Employee,On-the-Job Training,Training, Inservice,Employee Orientation Program,On the Job Training,Orientation Program, Employee,Program, Employee Orientation,Programs, Employee Orientation,Training, On-the-Job
D007722	Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice	Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).	Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
D009741	Nursing Staff, Hospital	Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.	Hospital Nursing Staff,Hospital Nursing Staffs,Nursing Staffs, Hospital,Staff, Hospital Nursing,Staffs, Hospital Nursing
D009748	Nutrition Disorders	Disorders caused by nutritional imbalance, either overnutrition or undernutrition.	Nutritional Disorders,Nutrition Disorder,Nutritional Disorder
D011795	Surveys and Questionnaires	Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions.	Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D004509	Education, Nursing, Continuing	Educational programs designed to inform nurses of recent advances in their fields.	Education, Nursing, Post-Basic,Education, Nursing, Post-Registration,Nursing Education, Continuing,Nursing Education, Post-Basic,Nursing Education, Post-Registration,Post-Basic Nursing Education,Post-Registration Nursing Education,Continuing Nursing Education,Education, Continuing Nursing,Education, Post-Basic Nursing,Education, Post-Registration Nursing,Nursing Education, Post Basic,Nursing Education, Post Registration,Post Basic Nursing Education,Post Registration Nursing Education
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000208	Acute Disease	Disease having a short and relatively severe course.	Acute Diseases,Disease, Acute,Diseases, Acute
D001291	Attitude of Health Personnel	Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.	Staff Attitude,Attitude, Staff,Attitudes, Staff,Health Personnel Attitude,Health Personnel Attitudes,Staff Attitudes
D015402	Nursing Education Research	Investigations into the problems of integrating research findings into nursing curricula, developing problem solving skills, finding approaches to clinical teaching, determining the level of practice by graduates from different basic preparations, etc.	Education Research, Nursing,Nursing Research, Educational,Research, Nursing Education,Educational Nursing Research,Research, Educational Nursing,Education Researchs, Nursing,Educational Nursing Researchs,Nursing Education Researchs,Nursing Researchs, Educational,Researchs, Educational Nursing,Researchs, Nursing Education