Mapping the Nutritional Roles, Competency Domains, and Practice Gaps of Nephrology Nurses in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Scoping Review

Background/Objectives: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is frequently associated with malnutrition and protein-energy wasting. Nephrology nurses (NNs) contribute to nutritional education, counseling, screening, and monitoring, but their roles and competencies remain poorly defined. This scoping review mapped NNs’ nutritional roles and competencies in adult CKD care. Methods: This scoping review followed Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. The protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) 10.17605/OSF.IO/YMW4F. The research question used the Population–Concept–Context framework: NNs as the population, nutritional nursing competencies as the concept, and adult nephrology care settings as the context. Eligible studies involved nurses in adult nephrology settings and addressed nutritional nursing roles, competencies, counseling, assessment tools, or related care processes. Searches were conducted on 23 May 2026 across PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. Two reviewers independently charted data using a structured form and synthesized findings into thematic domains. Results: Of 4699 identified records, 20 studies were included. Evidence encompassed nursing roles and activities, assessed or perceived competencies, knowledge gaps, and outcomes of nurse-led interventions, organized into five thematic domains: educational and communicative, clinical and advanced, collaborative and professional, general or basic nutritional, and guidance and counseling. The evidence was heterogeneous, predominantly derived from dialysis settings, and no formal critical appraisal was undertaken. Conclusions: NNs may contribute to nutritional CKD management, although the evidence does not uniformly reflect directly assessed competence. Structured training and standardized competency assessment may warrant further evaluation. No external funding was received.