Attitudes of nursing staff towards nutritional nursing care

Abstract

Fulfilling nutritional requirements in residents with eating problems can be a challenge for both the person in need of help and for the caregiver. In helping and supporting these residents, a positive attitude is assumed to be as important as practical skill. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that nutritional education and implementation of a nutritional programme would change the attitudes towards nutritional nursing care among nursing staff with daily experience of serving food and helping residents in municipal care. The study was carried out as a before and after experimental design. An attitude scale, staff attitudes to nutritional nursing care (SANN scale), was developed and used. The response on the scale gives a total SANN-score and scores in five underlying dimensions: self ability, individualization, importance of food, assessment and secured food intake. Nursing staff at eight different residential units (n = 176) responded to the attitude scale and, of these, staff at three of the units entered the study as the experimental group. After responding to the attitude scale, nutritional education was introduced and a nutritional programme was implemented in the experimental units. One year later, attitudes were measured a second time (n = 192). Of these, 151 had also responded on the first occasion. Education and implementation of a nutritional programme did not significantly change attitudes. Overall, nursing staff responded with positive attitudes towards nutritional nursing care. Most of the positive attitudes concerned items within the dimension importance of food. In contrast, items within self ability showed the lowest number of staff with positive attitudes.

Psychometric properties of implementation measures for public health and community settings and mapping of constructs against the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research: a systematic review

“…The majority of measures were developed in the USA ( n  = 28), with Canada and Australia also having developed three or more measures each. Sixteen measures were developed for use in school settings [38–52], six for use in universities or colleges [53–60], three for use in pharmacies [61–63], two for use in police or correctional facilities [64, 65], two for use in nursing homes [66, 67], six for use with whole communities or in multiple settings [68–75], and sixteen measures were developed for use in workplace settings or other organisations (e.g. utility companies, IT service providers, human services) [76–92].…”

Når mor ikke vil spise – Etiske dilemmaer i møte med underernærte mennesker med demens i sykehjem

“…Vi fant flere artikler som rettet seg mot underernaering og demens, men bare fem artikler som direkte rettet seg mot etiske dilemmaer sykepleiere opplevde i ernaeringssituasjonen med pasienter i sykehjem som har demens. [24][25][26][27][28] Etter at analysen var gjennomført ble det gjort nye søk for a˚se om der var sentrale tema vi hadde oversett. Da ble søket utvidet med søkeord som 'autonomy', 'paternalism' og 'insufficient'.…”

Nutrition and dementia care: Informing dietetic practice

“…Education on dementia and the nutrition-related management of PWD have been shown to improve attitudes towards providing nutrition-related support, which has a positive impact on nutritional status and weight. 28,47,[49][50][51] The education length varies considerably between studies, ranging from a few hours to equivalent of several days, making direct recommendations for intervention development challenging. Overall, education appears to be effective whether provided face-to-face or delivered remotely via telephone services.…”

“…28,47,[49][50][51] Research has been conducted on the use of artificial feeding (enteral and parenteral nutrition support) in the management of weight loss in PWD. 30,40,[52][53][54] Evidence suggests that artificial feeding may provide some short-term increase in energy intake; however, benefits associated with long-term survival and weight management are less convincing.…”