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Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya

Thesis (MNutr (Human Nutrition))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.

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Main Author: Kobe, Judith A.
Other Authors: Labadarios, D.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch 2008
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access_status_str Open Access
author Kobe, Judith A.
author2 Labadarios, D.
author_browse Kobe, Judith A.
Labadarios, D.
author_facet Labadarios, D.
Kobe, Judith A.
author_sort Kobe, Judith A.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv University of Stellenbosch
description Thesis (MNutr (Human Nutrition))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
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institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:43:40.919Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
publisher Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
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spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1514 Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya Kobe, Judith A. Labadarios, D. Marais, D. Nel, D. G. University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. Human Nutrition. Dissertations -- Nutrition Theses -- Nutrition Nurses -- Kenya -- Attitudes Nutrition counseling -- Kenya Nurses -- Kenya Thesis (MNutr (Human Nutrition))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. INTRODUCTION: Adequate nutrition is required for patients to improve and maintain their health. Nurses are in one of the best positions to ensure adequate nutrition because of their holistic caring role. The aim of the study was to determine aspects of the current nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of registered nurses towards nutritional management of patients. RESEARCH METHODS: This was a descriptive and observational study. One hundred and one out of 160 Kenyan registered nurses working at the surgical division at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya successfully completed the study representing a 63% response rate. The 47-item validated questionnaire consisted of 9 socio-demographic questions, 13 questions on nutrition knowledge, 13 questions on attitude and 12 questions on nurses’ practices. RESULTS: The general performance of the registered nurses on the selected aspects of knowledge, attitudes and practices was overall poor. They contradicted themselves on their beliefs in relation to their practices. They did not know their primary role in nutrition care, neither did they know the role played by dietitians/nutritionists and doctors. Twenty-six percent of the registered nurses strongly agreed that it was the nurses’ responsibility to assess the nutritional status of patients compared to 72% who strongly agreed it was the dietitians’/nutritionists’ responsibility and 24% who strongly agreed it was the doctors' responsibility. Eighty-two percent reported that they would refer patients to a dietitian/nutritionist, 18% that they would discuss diet options with the patients, while none of the registered nurses would consult the doctor if they felt that the patient was not receiving adequate nutrition. Seventy-five percent of them suggested that nutritional care of patients could be improved by adopting a multidisciplinary approach and 18% by catering staff feeding the patients. Only 28% reported that nutritional issues were included in ward rounds. Although 72% of the registered nurses reported that it was important to weigh patients on admission, only 43% reported actually weighing patients, of which 59% weighed patients for medication purposes and only 18% weighed patients for nutritional status assessment. The overall nutritional knowledge score was graded as average (57%). The poorest scores were noted for knowledge on clinical nutrition questions (14%) and the highest scores for knowledge on basic nutrition questions (91%). CONCLUSION: Although the nurses regarded nutritional care of patients as important, their practices seemed to contradict their attitudes. Considering the responsibility the nurses are entrusted with regarding patient nutritional care, their current knowledge, attitudes and practices towards nutritional care is a cause for concern. The results of this study provide a basis for continuous nutrition education, well-designed protocols for nutritional status assessment by registered nurses and efforts directed towards improved clinical practice. 2008-02-05T07:35:48Z 2010-06-01T08:26:30Z 2008-02-05T07:35:48Z 2010-06-01T08:26:30Z 2006-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1514 en University of Stellenbosch 1494958 bytes application/pdf application/pdf Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
spellingShingle Dissertations -- Nutrition
Theses -- Nutrition
Nurses -- Kenya -- Attitudes
Nutrition counseling -- Kenya
Nurses -- Kenya
Kobe, Judith A.
Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
title Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
title_full Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
title_fullStr Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
title_short Aspects of nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
title_sort aspects of nutritional knowledge attitudes and practices of nurses working at the surgical division at the kenyatta national hospital kenya
topic Dissertations -- Nutrition
Theses -- Nutrition
Nurses -- Kenya -- Attitudes
Nutrition counseling -- Kenya
Nurses -- Kenya
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1514
work_keys_str_mv AT kobejuditha aspectsofnutritionalknowledgeattitudesandpracticesofnursesworkingatthesurgicaldivisionatthekenyattanationalhospitalkenya