Abstract
Background: Nurses have a pivotal role in initiating and managing enteral nutrition (EN) and monitoring any potential complications. Yet, it is unclear whether Yemeni nurses have adequate knowledge to deliver and manage enteral nutrition safely. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding the management of EN. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2019 to March 2019. A probability sampling method was used to recruit 174 nurses from four public hospitals in the capital city of Yemen. A self-administered 17-item questionnaire related to ICU nurses' knowledge regarding EN intervention was used to collect the data. Results: Out of the 174 respondents, 60.9% were females, 48.9% were aged between 20 and 25 years and 66.1% had a 3-year nursing diploma. Most respondents (79.3%) had one to five years of working experience as nurses, while almost two-thirds (70.7%) had one to five years of working experience as an ICU nurse. Above half (59.2%) of the respondents had never attended training courses on EN management and 65.5% specified that the college or institute of nursing was the source for their knowledge about EN management. Only 10.9% of the respondents had an adequate level of knowledge, while (43.1%) of them had a moderate level of knowledge and 46.0% of them had an inadequate level of knowledge regarding the EN management. Significant associations between the level of ICU nurses' knowledge of EN management and their level of education and the sources of knowledge were detected. Conclusions: The significant gap in ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding EN management identified implies the need to upgrade and refresh of the ICU nurses' knowledge by implementing a regular training program concerning EN management.
Highlights
Ill patients need regular enteral nutrition (EN) as an essential intervention to fulfil the body’s dietary and physiological requirement[1]
Regarding the level of knowledge of EN following administration, the results revealed that most (47.70%) of the ICU nurses had an inadequate level of knowledge, and 9.20% had an adequate level, while 43% of them had a moderate level of knowledge about management following adminsitration of EN
Association between the ICU nurses’ characteristics and their knowledge level of EN The current results indicated that there was a significant association between the level of education and sources of knowledge about EN and the overall level of participants’ knowledge of EN management (P=0.011 and P=0.030, respectively)
Summary
Ill patients need regular enteral nutrition (EN) as an essential intervention to fulfil the body’s dietary and physiological requirement[1]. EN is the recommended method of nutritional support for ICU ill patients who need extra nutritional calories because of the increased metabolic rate[2]. It is considered as a medical therapy in law; it should not be initiated only after ethical considerations have been made. Nurses have a pivotal role in initiating and managing enteral nutrition (EN) and monitoring any potential complications. It is unclear whether Yemeni nurses have adequate knowledge to deliver and manage enteral nutrition safely. Conclusions: The significant gap in ICU nurses’ knowledge regarding EN management identified implies the need to upgrade and refresh of the ICU nurses' knowledge by implementing a regular training
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