Parenteral Nutrition Provision Knowledge and Associated Factors Among Nurses in (Amhara Region) Ethiopia: A...

Parenteral nutrition provides vital nutrients and serves as a lifesaving therapy for individuals unable to utilize their gastrointestinal tract. Inadequate provision contributes to undernutrition, increased co-morbidity, poor wound healing and prolonged hospital stays. Despite its importance, there is limited research examining how nurses' knowledge, adherence to guidelines, monitoring and patient-centred practices influence the safe administration of parenteral nutrition and its impact on patient outcomes.

The aim was to assess nurses' parenteral nutrition provision knowledge and associated factors in two teaching hospitals of Amhara region, Ethiopia.

An institution-based cross-sectional study design was used and the study was conducted from April 15 to May 30, 2023. The data were collected by trained data collectors. Simple random sampling was used to select the study participants, and a structured self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data. Data entered into Epi-data 4.2 and exported to Stata Version 17. The knowledge of nurses was assessed by knowledge-related questions and a nurse who scored ≥ 50% of the total knowledge-related questions considered having adequate knowledge. Logistic regression model was used to identify association of variables. p value ≤ 0.05 and 95% confidence interval were considered to declare statistically significant factors.

A total of 390 nurses participated, and 73.6% (95% CI: 68.9-77.9) of nurses had adequate knowledge. Training, internet access, presence of guidelines/protocol, graduating university and educational level were significantly associated factors. Training (AOR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.73, p value = 0.03), internet access (AOR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.36, 1.02, p value = 0.05), graduating from a governmental institution (AOR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.30, 3.22, p value = 0.02), availability of guidelines (AOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.92, p value = 0.03) and educational background (AOR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.67, p value = 0.04) were significantly associated with adequate knowledge.

The study revealed that the majority of nurses had an adequate level of knowledge towards parenteral nutrition provision. Training about parenteral nutrition, availability of guidelines on parenteral nutrition, access to internet in units, educational background and graduating college were the positive predictors for good knowledge of nurses about parenteral nutrition. The findings underscore the importance of continued education and implementation of standardized nutritional guidelines to insure optimal patient care, particularly for patients with compromised nutritional intake.

Strengthening nurse knowledge through training, internet access and clear clinical guidelines can enhance patient care and improve outcomes.