Dissertation Creation - The UK's original provider of custom dissertations and dissertation help...

Free Dissertations - Nursing Dissertations

Literature On Knowledge/attitudes Perry (1997) Conducted One Of The Earlier ...



Literature on knowledge/attitudes
Perry (1997) conducted one of the earlier studies. She collected data on nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices from a large NHS Trust in Southern England. Participants comprised 92 nurses who completed and returned a questionnaire. With regards to nutritional attitudes, results showed that although a majority (71%) of nurses viewed assessment of patients nutritional status as their responsibility, a substantial minority thought this task was the responsibility of doctors (9%) or dieticians (19.5%). Interestingly, a small majority of nurses (n=65, or 70.6%) endorsed the idea that it wasn't necessary to evaluate the nutritional requirements of every patient. However, this view was less likely to be held by more experienced nurses (< 10 years experience), who were more likely to express the view that every patient required nutritional evaluation. The majority accepted it was essential to weigh patients at the point of admission, albeit this view was by no means universal. The nurses held very strong attitudes (both in favour, and against) regarding whether: nutritional care was an essential component of nursing care; a priority; and dependent on medical diagnosis. Participants also provided information about their nutritional care practices. It is worth mentioning that measures of actual behaviour/activity is essential in a study on attitude, since attitude is a multidimensional construct incorporating not just a persons views, but their actions, and emotions as well (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). When asked about the criteria used for assessing the nutritional status/needs of patients, up to 17% stated that they used the Waterloo Score, an insufficient measure (Waterloo, 1997; BDA, 1999). Just over 50% reported carrying out a nutritional assessment for all patients, with the other half only doing so for ‘most', ‘some', or no patients at all. Only 34.8% (32 nurses) routinely monitored the nutritional status of all patients, 26% used weight assessment for gauging nutritional health, while 63% used it for nutritional monitoring. The use of weight solely as an assessment/monitoring parameter is considered inadequate (NMPDU, 2002).
Perry's analysis also identified gaps in nutritional knowledge. Dieticians suggest that starvation or malnutrition in excess of 10 days can adversely impair patient recovery, with starvation for 40-60 days resulting in death (Pichard & Jeejeebhoy, 1993). Yet 10% of nurses were unaware how long a patient could survive on clear fluids alone. Twenty eight percent did not know the energy requirements for a designate patient (a thin elderly woman, 1700kcal/day to 2300kcal/day), with 21% suggesting energy levels too low to meet the patients needs (albeit grade E and F nurses tended to be more accurate in their estimates). Perhaps, most disturbingly, when asked the ‘normal' range of BMI, a widely used index of nutritional needs, the vast majority, the vast majority 85.

Please note: The above dissertation snippet was written by a student and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted their work to us.