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Barriers and facilitators to screening for malnutrition by community nurses: a qualitative study
Author(s) -
Green S. M.,
James E. P.,
Latter S.,
Sutcliffe M.,
Fader M. J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1111/jhn.12104
Subject(s) - medicine , thematic analysis , nursing , qualitative research , intervention (counseling) , malnutrition , health care , focus group , judgement , perception , family medicine , psychology , social science , business , pathology , marketing , neuroscience , sociology , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Background A substantial proportion of individuals who live in community settings in the UK experience malnutrition. Routine screening for malnutrition by healthcare practitioners has been recommended in many regions. The present study aimed to understand community nurses' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to undertaking nutritional screening. Methods A qualitative study was undertaken with a purposive sample of community nurses working in one UK healthcare organisation. Semi‐structured interviews were used to elicit perceptions of barriers and facilitators. Interviews were digitally recorded, anonymised and transcribed. Initial codes were assigned for salient constructs identified in the transcripts, refined by grouping, and a thematic list was developed. Results Twenty district nurses and community matrons were interviewed at which time saturation of the data was achieved. Six themes emerged: supportive organisational culture, time and resource to screen and intervene, ease and acceptability of the screening tool, professional judgement as good as screening, the need for training and sharing good practice, and enhancing communication between care settings. Conclusions The findings of the present study suggest that screening is more likely to be completed where an organisation is perceived to have a clear expectation that it is undertaken and also demonstrates this through training and availability of resources. The need for a process or tool that nurses find easy to use and relevant to their practice area was highlighted. Further research should examine the effect of the use of a nutritional screening tool by community nurses on nutritional care planning and intervention.