Nurses’ attitude and awareness of nutrition and malnutrition

Background: Nurses play a vital role in educating patientsabout health and nutrition, empowering them to makeinformed dietary choices. This study aimed to develop aquestionnaire to assess European nurses’ knowledge andawareness of nutrition and malnutrition, particularly inrelation to oncology and vulnerable patient populations.Methods: A cross-sectional survey design wasemployed between February to April 2025. A structuredquestionnaire was developed based on existingframeworks and distributed to registered nursesacross various European countries. Participants wererecruited using a stratified random sampling approachto ensure diversity in geographical location, hospitalsize, and professional experience. The questionnaireassessed nurses’ education and training, clinical practices,collaboration with other professionals, sources ofinformation, perceived barriers, and suggestions forimprovement. Descriptive analyses were performed,reporting absolute frequencies, percentages, and means.Results: A total of 98 nurses participated in the survey.The majority recognized nutrition as a vital componentof patient care, with 91% acknowledging awareness ofthe nutritional challenges faced by patients. Despite this,only 48% reported routinely screening for malnutrition,and the use of validated screening tools was inconsistent.While 83% of respondents felt familiar with dietaryrequirements, just 47% had received formal training innutritional interventions. Reported barriers to effectivenutritional care included lack of time, limited professionalautonomy, and inconsistent or conflicting sources ofinformation. Participants expressed a strong interestin further education, particularly in specialized areassuch as percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG)feeding, nutrition in dementia care, and food labeling.Conclusions: The findings highlight a clear need forstandardized, accessible nutrition education for nursesacross Europe. Limitations include the small, highlyeducated, and self-selected sample, which may limitgeneralizability. Findings highlight the need for standardizednutrition education, institutional support, and enhancedinterdisciplinary collaboration. Enhancing nurses’competencies through targeted training, institutionalsupport, and interprofessional collaboration can significantly improve the delivery of nutritional care, particularly foroncology patients and other vulnerable populations.