Nursing practices associated with diagnosis of malnutrition in children under 5 years in West Rand District primary healthcare facilities

Background: Despite improvement in child health outcomes, undernutrition in children aged under five years continues to be a major public health problem, contributing to childhood morbidity and mortality. Objectives: The aim was to determine the knowledge and practice patterns used in the identification of malnutrition by nurses at PHC facilities. The attendance rates and the impact of in-house paediatric courses were also examined. Design: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was undertaken from June to September 2018. Setting: The study was conducted at 36 primary healthcare clinics in the West Rand Health District Council Area, Gauteng, South Africa. Subjects: All nurses working with children aged under five years in the study clinics. Results: The response rate was 94% (49) with a mean age of 42.5 years (±9.7) with the majority (98%) being females. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of the participants had good knowledge, 33% had excellent knowledge and 6% had poor knowledge. The mean knowledge score was 20.3 (8–27, SD). The practice categories indicated that two-thirds of the participants (61%) displayed poor practices, and 21% had good practices whilst only 18% displayed best practices. The mean practice score was 4.5 (1.75, SD). There was no association between attendance at courses, knowledge scores and practice patterns. Conclusion: Most participants had good or excellent knowledge around issues of malnutrition. There was poor attendance on courses and there was no association between knowledge and attendance on the courses. More than 60% of the nurses had poor practice patterns and there was no association between knowledge, attendance on courses and practice patterns.