Nurses' knowledge and related factors towards hemodialysis patients' nutrition: A systematic review

Abstract

This systematic review was conducted with the objective of assessing the nurses' knowledge and related factors towards hemodialysis patients' nutrition. A thorough and systematic search was executed across various international electronic databases, including Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science, as well as Persian electronic databases such as Iranmedex and the Scientific Information Database. The search utilized keywords derived from Medical Subject Headings, including “knowledge”, “nurses”, “hemodialysis”, and “nutrition”, and covered all available literature up to March 11, 2024. The quality of the studies incorporated into this systematic review was assessed using the Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS tool). The review encompassed six cross-sectional studies, involving a total of 455 hemodialysis nurses. Among the participants, 57.47% were female. The geographical distribution of the studies included in this review was as follows: four studies were conducted in Iraq, one in Italy and one in Greece. The mean nutritional knowledge score among hemodialysis nurses, as reported in six studies, was 57.40 out of 100. This score suggests a moderate level of nutritional knowledge among the nurses. Several factors, such as age, level of education, and years of experience, were identified as being associated with the nutritional knowledge of hemodialysis nurses. Therefore, it is recommended that nursing policymakers and managers focus on these factors to enhance the nutritional knowledge among hemodialysis nurses. This could potentially lead to improved patient outcomes in the hemodialysis setting.