The nutritional knowledge of nurses working at the medical college hospital in the northern district of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Nutrition significantly impacts disease prevention and patient recovery. As healthcare providers across various health sectors, nurses often have the opportunity to offer dietary guidance to patients. However, there is a dearth of studies in the literature that assess nurses’ nutritional knowledge in Bangladesh.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the nutritional knowledge of nurses employed at a tertiary-level medical college hospital in the Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.

Methods: An observational descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed, with 109 staff nurses completing a self-administered questionnaire. This questionnaire covered demographic characteristics, work-related information, and 20 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) aimed at assessing nurses’ nutrition knowledge. Data were collected between April and May 2022. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, chi-square (χ2) tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results: The average score of nutrition knowledge was 63.4% (SD = 13.94) for all nurses, falling within the low to moderate range. Nurses with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing (22.2%) and 11 - 15 years of work experience (14.7%) demonstrated a very good level of nutrition knowledge. Education level (χ2 = 18.659; p <0.05) and work experience (χ2 = 22.356; p <0.01) significantly influenced knowledge levels. Most nurses sought nutritional advice from less than 25% of patients, with doctors/physicians being the most common source of nutrition information provided by nurses.

Conclusion: The average nutritional knowledge score of Bangladeshi nurses was low to moderate. Education level and length of work experience significantly impacted knowledge levels. Therefore, it is recommended that effective ongoing nutrition education programs, nursing curriculum reforms, and in-service training are crucial to enhancing nurses’ nutritional knowledge.

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Declaration of Conflicting Interest

The authors declared no conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.

Funding

This research study was not supported by any funding or sponsoring agency. Funds were provided by researchers.

Acknowledgment

The researchers would like to convey thanks to all the senior staff nurses, nursing supervisors, and matrons of the M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital at Dinajpur, Bangladesh, for their participation and support in this research.

Authors’ Contributions

All authors significantly contributed from conceptualization to the finalization of the study. MSAR: Conceptualization, study design, analysis and interpretation of data, manuscript writing. MAR: Literature review, data curation, and input. MAKA: Data collection, data analysis. VB: Literature review, Data collection. AR: Data analysis and interpretation of data, manuscript writing, software. MAA: Manuscript writing, reviewing, and editing grammatical errors. NA: Data curation, manuscript writing. HBH: Designing the questionnaire, data collection, revising, and editing the article for important intellectual content. SSA: Data collection, data curation. All the authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to submit the article to the current journal.

Data Availability Statement

The authors ensure that the necessary data supporting the study findings are included in the article. Raw data were available upon request to the corresponding author.

Declaration of the Use of AI in Scientific Writing

None declared.

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