ASSOCIATION BETWEEN NURSES’ NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT KNOWLEDGE AND PATIENT CARE PRACTICES IN POST-OPERATIVE CARDIAC UNITS

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the association between nurses’ knowledge regarding nutritional support and their practices in caring for post-operative cardiac patients. Nutritional support is an essential component of postoperative cardiac care because it contributes to wound healing, recovery, prevention of complications, and improvement of patient outcomes. A quantitative descriptive correlational research design was used to conduct the study. The study was carried out among nurses working in cardiac surgical and intensive care units. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to select 22 nurses who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate in the research. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire developed according to the objectives of the study and relevant literature. The instrument consisted of three sections including demographic characteristics, nurses’ knowledge regarding nutritional support, and nursing practices related to nutritional care for post-operative cardiac patients.The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum values were used to summarize demographic variables, knowledge scores, and practice scores. Inferential statistics using Pearson correlation analysis were applied to determine the association between nurses’ knowledge and practices. The findings revealed that nurses had relatively adequate knowledge regarding nutritional support, while practice scores showed variability among participants. A statistically significant moderate positive correlation was found between knowledge and practice (r = .505, p = .017), indicating that higher knowledge levels were associated with better nursing practices.The study concluded that improving nurses’ knowledge may positively influence nutritional support practices in post-operative cardiac care. The study recommends continuous educational programs, evidence-based training workshops, standardized nutritional care protocols, and multidisciplinary collaboration to enhance nurses’ competencies and improve patient outcomes in cardiac surgical units.