The Relationship between Nurse Nutrition Knowledge and Unintentional Weight Loss in Nursing Home Residents

Abstract

Unintentional weight loss is a common and significant problem among nursing home residents and an important indicator of malnutrition. Nursing home residents who lose more than 5% of their body weight in one month or 10% of body weight in six months are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Licensed nurses, who are responsible for maintaining the health and well-being of nursing home residents, have been shown to be deficient in nutrition knowledge. Little is known about the relationship between nurse nutrition knowledge and unintentional weight loss in nursing home residents.The purpose of this study was to revise a nurse nutrition questionnaire to reduce respondent burden and to examine the psychometric properties of the revised instrument. The revised instrument was then used to describe the relationship between nurse nutrition knowledge and unintentional weight loss in nursing homes across Northeast Indiana.A descriptive, correlational, and non-experimental design was used to describe the relationship between nurse nutrition knowledge and unintentional weight loss (UWL) in nursing home residents in Northeast Indiana. Licensed nurses (N = 101) from nine nursing homes were recruited for this study. Nurse nutrition knowledge was measured using a revised nutrition questionnaire (NKQ-R) and weight loss data was obtained from the Nursing Home Compare Database.Content validity of the NKQ-R was acceptable. Item analysis demonstrated six items below the acceptable point biserial of .15, and one question demonstrated a very high P value of 98 and had a nonfunctioning distracter response. Four of these problematic items were in subscale `3' (nutritional deficiencies of institutionalized older adults). Consistent with findings from previous studies, nurses scored below average on the nurse nutrition questionnaire, however relationships between nurse nutrition knowledge and unintentional weight loss were not supported. Level of nurse education was positively correlated with NKQ-R scores. Nursing home ownership type was significantly related to NKQ-R scores and unintentional weight loss; nurses working in not-for-profit nursing homes scored higher on the NKQ-R than nurses working in not-for-profit nursing homes, and not-for-profit nursing homes had a lower incidence of UWL than the for-profit nursing homes in this study.