Nutrition for health promotion in nursing education: knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and instructional practices of nursing faculty

Abstract

Nutrition's role in health is undisputed, yet nursing education programs do not consistently integrate essential nutrition content into curricula. Nurses are well-positioned throughout the healthcare system to provide health-promoting nutritional guidance but must have the requisite knowledge to do so. The purpose of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and instructional practices of nursing faculty regarding teaching nutrition for health promotion. The theory of planned behavior with Wilkins' KABP model was employed as the theoretical framework for the descriptive study. A pre-study validity evaluation of the attitude and belief measures for sufficiency, relevance, clarity, and coherence was completed by a group of experts. Data were collected via a nationwide survey of full-time faculty members (n = 266) teaching in prelicensure baccalaureate nursing programs. The instrument comprised five sections measuring knowledge (General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire-Revised), attitudes, beliefs, instructional practices, and demographics. The scores on the knowledge measure ranged from 59 to 95 (M = 80%, SD = 6.6, 95% CI (69.77 [79.2%], 71.37 [81.1%]). Attitude scores ranged from -7 to 20, with the average being 13.1 (SD = 5.10, 95% CI [12.47, 13.70]), and 80% of respondents' attitude scores fell in the top quarter (> 11). Belief scores ranged from -11 to 20, with the average being 7.08 (SD = 5.93, 95% CI [6.36, 7.79]. Only 154 (57.9%) of respondents have had previous experience teaching nutrition for health promotion. The findings highlight the importance of continuing education and resources for nursing faculty members in promoting the inclusion of nutrition for health promotion in prelicensure nursing education. Academic nursing must work to ensure that nursing program graduates are well-equipped with the required competencies to deliver health-promoting nutritional guidance and impact the growing chronic disease burden caused by poor diet