Influence of an educational intervention for nursing staff on enteral nutritional therapy

Objective: to analyze the effect of an educational intervention for nursing staff on enteral nutritional therapy. Methods: an interventional study was conducted using a pre-post, non-randomized design with no control group. The intervention targeted 260 nursing staff members (nurses and nursing technicians) at a public hospital. Over a 57-week period, three training cycles were delivered, featuring round table discussions on standardized subjects related to enteral nutrition. The effectiveness of the training was assessed using mixed linear regression models. Results: following the first and second training cycles, deficits in volume, calories, and protein were significantly reduced (p<0.05) in the hospital wards, starting from the fifth day of enteral nutritional therapy. While the percentages of nutritional adequacy increased in both the intensive care unit and the general wards, this trend did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: implementing an educational intervention contributes to a measurable improvement in the quality of enteral nutritional therapy provided to patients. This constitutes a viable strategy for enhancing the overall efficiency and clinical effectiveness of this therapy. Contributions to practice: this study provides pioneering evidence on the implementation and impact of nursing-focused training on the mitigation of caloric and protein deficits associated with enteral nutritional therapy.