Nursing Home Organization Mealtimes and Staff Attitude Toward Nutritional Care: A Multicenter Observational Study

摘要: ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to investigate the practices of registered nurses and nurse aides at mealtimes in nursing homes (NHs) and to evaluate the attitudes of health care staff toward the nutritional care of older people.DesignThis is a multicenter cross-sectional study.Setting and ParticipantsThe study involved a convenience sample of NH health care staff: physicians, registered nurses, and nurse aides.MethodsData were collected on characteristics of the dining environment, organizational and nutritional care practices, staff-resident ratio, and staff activities during meals, using 2 questionnaires and staff attitudes were assessed with Staff Attitudes to Nutritional Nursing Care Geriatric Scale (SANN-G). Total score ranges from 18 to 90 points, with the following cutoffs: ≥72, positive attitude; ≤54, negative; and 55-71 points, neutral attitude.ResultsA total of 1267 workers from 29 NHs in northern Italy …