Objective: Malnutrition in intensive care unit patients significantly affects recovery and increases morbidity and mortality. Adequate nutritional support is essential, but nutritional care is often overlooked, and intensive care nurses play a key role in nutritional management. This study aimed to assess the knowledge levels, attitudes, and perceived quality of nutritional care among intensive care nurses to identify gaps in clinical practice.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 147 intensive care nurses working at Isparta City Hospital. Data were collected using an information form and a validated scale evaluating the importance of nutritional assessment, knowledge of nutritional care, and perceived quality of care. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data.
Results: The mean score for the importance of nutritional assessment was 23.39±2.92, knowledge level was 25.24±5.38, and perceived quality of care was 37.53±4.82. A significant relationship was found between positive attitudes toward nutritional care and perceived quality of care (p<0.001). Attitude toward nutritional care significantly predicted perceived quality of care (Adj. R²=0.216, p<0.001). Nurses with higher levels of knowledge also perceived better quality of care.
Conclusion: Intensive care nurses generally have positive attitudes toward nutritional care, but knowledge gaps and perceived quality of care need improvement. Further studies should explore the effectiveness of different educational strategies in improving nutritional management in intensive care units.