Moti Birtukan Kebede, Atomsa Gudina Egata, Tesso Desalegn Wirtu
Department of Public Health , Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte Town, Post Box 395, Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia.
Department of Nutrition & Dietetics , School of Public Health , College of health sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
BMC Nutr. 2025 Jan 30;11(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s40795-025-01000-w.
Adult patients suffering from malnutrition in hospitals are often overlooked, especially in low-income countries. Health care professionals play a vital role in identifying and managing the nutritional needs of patients. However, their perception regarding the nutritional care of adult patients have not been thoroughly examined.
Explore the perceptions of health care professionals on nutritional care and perceived barriers in providing nutritional care for adult patients.
A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted, consisting of twenty-two in-depth interviews with purposefully selected health care professionals at comprehensive specialized hospitals from March to May 2024. The interviews were audio-recorded, and field notes were taken. The data were transcribed verbatim and translated into English. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
Two main themes and eight sub-themes were generated. The first theme was Health care professionals' (HCPs) gaps which include: limited scope in providing nutritional care, not recognizing nutritional care as a routine care, healthcare professionals (HCPs) role on nutrition care and limited knowledge regarding nutritional care. The second theme was challenges and barriers to providing nutritional care which includes: prioritization, lack of emphasis in the health care system, missing collaboration between professionals, and lack of resources allocated to nutritional service.
Respondents assume that malnutrition may not occur in adult patients; they consider it not to be a problem for adult patients. Providing adequate in-service training to healthcare providers, allocating resources, and considering malnutrition in adult patients as one of the main issues to be integrated in nutritional care as a part of daily treatment are vital.
医院中患有营养不良的成年患者常常被忽视，尤其是在低收入国家。医疗保健专业人员在识别和满足患者营养需求方面发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，他们对成年患者营养护理的认知尚未得到全面研究。
探讨医疗保健专业人员对营养护理的认知以及为成年患者提供营养护理时所感知到的障碍。
进行了一项现象学定性研究，于2024年3月至5月对综合专科医院中经过有目的挑选的22名医疗保健专业人员进行了深入访谈。访谈进行了录音，并做了现场记录。数据逐字转录并翻译成英文。采用主题分析法对数据进行分析。
产生了两个主要主题和八个子主题。第一个主题是医疗保健专业人员（HCPs）的差距，包括：提供营养护理的范围有限、未将营养护理视为常规护理、医疗保健专业人员在营养护理方面的作用以及对营养护理的知识有限。第二个主题是提供营养护理的挑战和障碍，包括：优先级、医疗保健系统中缺乏重视、专业人员之间缺乏协作以及分配给营养服务的资源不足。
受访者认为成年患者可能不会出现营养不良；他们认为这对成年患者来说不是问题。为医疗保健提供者提供充分的在职培训、分配资源，并将成年患者的营养不良视为日常治疗中营养护理应纳入的主要问题之一至关重要。
