Critical Care Nurses’ Knowledge and Skill regarding Enteral Nutrition in Critically Ill Patients at a Glance

Abstract

Nasogastric tube feeding is the most frequently used method of enteral feeding particularly if feeding is to be used for relatively short period. The nurses’ knowledge and skill in the insertion of nasogastric tube, tube feeding and subsequently care of nasogastric tube are important in clinical area to ensure patient safety. A cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken to assess the knowledge and practice regarding enteral nutrition among staff nurses working at selected hospitals of Bhubaneswar. One hundred samples were selected by purposive sampling technique and data were collected from the staff nurses by using structured interview schedules. The level of knowledge of staff nurses regarding enteral nutrition reveals that 44% of staff nurses had above-average knowledge, 44% of staff nurses had below-average knowledge. Practice of staff nurses regarding enteral nutrition reveals that staff nurses were having 80% of practice skill regarding before giving feeding, 74% of practice skill regarding during giving feeding, 73% of practice skill regarding after giving feeding. The finding of this study will assist the staff nurses to improve the knowledge and develop the skills through attending seminars and workshops.

Keywords: Knowledge, skill, staff nurses, enteral nutrition, critically ill patient