Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major public health issue in Egypt and is regarded as a pandemic of modern
times. Most medical professionals that help diabetic people manage their difficulties are nurses. Nutrition is a key
element of diabetes control. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and practices
(KAP) on the dietary treatment of diabetes. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional based survey was carried out on
nurses working in medical and surgical departments, Benha University Hospital through the period from 1 June 2023
to 30 July 2023. To evaluate nurses' KAP, a verified self-administered questionnaire was utilized. The data were
analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression to detect predictors for nurses' knowledge, attitude
and practice scores. Results: Age and awareness of national diabetes guidelines were revealed to be statistically
significant determinants of participants' knowledge of dietary treatment for diabetes. Higher knowledge scores was
significantly reported by nurses who were > 41 years (B = 7.68, P=0.03) and those who were aware of National
Diabetes Guidelines (B = -5.39, P=0.02). Only 44% of nurses expressed satisfaction with the nutrition education
received during their training in nursing universities and institutes. 86% never attended a refresher course on
managing diabetes. Most nurses (68%) felt they had a responsibility and were qualified to educate patients about
diabetes nutrition. It was shown that 60.6% of Benha University Hospitals’ nurses had knowledge levels that were
below average. Participants generally showed a moderate degree of understanding of the dietary treatment of diabetes.
Conclusion: Although nurses’ attitudes towards nutritional management of diabetic patients were good. In this study,
the nurses declared a modest level of knowledge and practices in relation to the dietary care of diabetes mellitus. |
