Assessment of Nurses' Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Nutritional Care Management of Diabetic Patients in Benha University Hospital

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major public health issue in Egypt and is regarded as a pandemic of modern times. Most medical professionals that help diabetic people manage their difficulties are nurses. Nutrition is a key element of diabetes control.  

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on the dietary treatment of diabetes. Subjects  and methods: A cross-sectional based survey was carried out on nurses working in medical and surgical departments, Benha University  Hospital through the period from 1 June 2023 to 30 July 2023. To evaluate nurses' KAP, a verified self-administered questionnaire was  utilized. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression to detect predictors for nurses' knowledge,  attitude and practice scores.

Results: Age and awareness of national diabetes guidelines were revealed to be statistically significant  determinants of participants' knowledge of dietary treatment for diabetes. Higher knowledge scores was significantly reported by nurses  who were > 41 years (B = 7.68, P=0.03) and those who were aware of National Diabetes Guidelines (B = -5.39, P=0.02). Only 44% of  nurses expressed satisfaction with the nutrition education received during their training in nursing universities and institutes. 86% never  attended a refresher course on managing diabetes. Most nurses (68%) felt they had a responsibility and were qualified to educate  patients about diabetes nutrition. It was shown that 60.6% of Benha University Hospitals’ nurses had knowledge levels that were below  average. Participants generally showed a moderate degree of understanding of the dietary treatment of diabetes.

Conclusion: Although  nurses’ attitudes towards nutritional management of diabetic patients were good. In this study, the nurses declared a modest level of  knowledge and practices in relation to the dietary care of diabetes mellitus.