Evaluation of intensive care nurses' practices and knowledge levels on enteral and parenteral nutrition support in critically ill patients

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The role of intensive care nurses in maintaining nutrition in critically ill patients is very important. The aim of this study is to evaluate the practices and knowledge levels of intensive care nurses on enteral and parenteral nutrition support in critically ill patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted with 193 nurses. The questionnaire form was prepared using evidence-based guidelines. When evaluating the study data, frequency distribution was given for categorical variables and descriptive statistics were given for numerical variables. The difference between two groups was tested using an independent sample t-test, and the difference between more than two groups was tested using a one-way analysis of variance. For variance homogeneity, the Levene test was used, and then the group or groups from which the difference originated were checked using the "multiple comparison test". RESULTS: It was found that the enteral knowledge score of intensive care nurses was 67.81±8.90 and the parenteral knowledge score was 70.12±8.97. A significant difference was found between the descriptive and professional characteristics of the nurses and the enteral knowledge score in terms of ICU type (p<0.05). No difference was found in terms of other parameters (p>0.05). A significant difference was found between the descriptive and professional characteristics of the nurses and the parenteral knowledge score in terms of age, gender, marital status, total length of service in nursing, total length of work in the intensive care unit, and the score of thinking that they have sufficient knowledge about enteral and parenteral nutrition (p<0.05). No difference was found in terms of other parameters (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The research results show that intensive care nurses need to update their knowledge with current literature and guidelines, plan in-service training, and ensure their participation in academic scientific meetings, courses, seminars, congresses, etc. Keywords: Critical Patient, Enteral Nutrition, Intensive Care Nursing, Malnutrition, Parenteral Nutrition