Nutritional care of older people: Investigating nurses’ attitudes in medical and surgical units

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition in older people in hospitals leads to negative patient outcomes. Nurses often underestimate the problem, showing negative attitudes.

Aims: To compare nurses' attitudes towards nutritional care of older people in surgical and medical wards. Design: Multicentre cross-sectional survey, conducted in January 2015.

Methods: All nurses in surgical and medical wards in 10 hospitals in northern Italy were surveyed using the Staff Attitudes to Nutritional Nursing Care Geriatric Scale (SANN-G scale).

Results: 799 out of 1,293 questionnaires were returned (61.8%). 23.2% (185) had a negative attitude, 56.6%(452) had a neutral attitude, and 20.2%(162), positive. Multivariate analysis showed no significant differences between medical and surgical wards (OR = 1.298; CI95% = .883-1.886, p = .18).

Conclusions: It is necessary to raise nurses' awareness of poor nutritional care in both settings. More research is needed within the barriers to nutritional care.

Impact statement: Strategies such as education and more clearly defined nutritional responsibilities are needed to improve nurses' attitudes.

Keywords:

• geriatric nursing
• malnutrition
• surveys and questionnaires
• attitude of health personnel

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Consociazione Nazionale Associazioni Infermieri (CNAI) for promoting this research during the permanent exposition in Milan 2015, through the initiative called “Nurses for expo 2015”. The authors are thankful to all the staff nurses, head nurses, and manager nurses of the hospitals in which the study was carried out.

Author contributions

LB, AD and ST: conceived the study, trained the contact persons of the hospitals, analysed the data and prepared the manuscript; AD, ML and MN: organised data collection in the hospitals; AD: managed the process of approval of the study by the ethical committee; MF, AD and ML: supervised the manuscript; All authors revised and approved the final text of the article.