Different Perceptions of Clinical Nutrition Services between Doctors and Dietitians in the Busan-Gyeongnam Area

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference in perception of clinical nutrition service (CNS) between doctors and dietitians working in hospitals in Busan and the Gyeongnam area. Research was performed through questionnaires (from November to December 2011) at over 100 beds. 73.3% of dietitians were aware of the Nutrition Support Team (NST), while only 15.6% of doctors were aware of it. Due to heavy work and lack of medical staff, doctors didn't participate in NST, although most of them recognized the necessity of NST. 61.7% of dietitians screened and managed malnourished patients, whereas only 29.8% of doctors did. The main reason dietitians didn't treat malnourished patients was the absence of a treatment system in the hospital. Less than 50% of dietitians participated in the doctor's round to malnourished patients. As for why dietitians didn't participate in doctor's rounds, 71% of doctors chose understaffed dietitians and 38.1% of dietitians chose the doctors' unawareness of the importance of the dietitian in doctor's rounds. For the lower rate of nutrition counseling in provincial regions, compared to the capital region, 46.8% of doctors cited a lack of connection between doctors and clinical dietitians, while 43.3% of dietitians cited the lack of doctors' awareness on the importance of nutrition counseling. Although 87.3% of the doctors and 91.6% of the dietitians answered that CNS is important for treatment, the perception of onsite performance status on CNS was found to be low in both groups. 48.9% of doctors and 50.0% of dietitians regarded dietitians in the hospital as personnel in charge of food services, rather a member of the medical team. To improve the awareness of the importance of the CNS, and the image of clinical dietitians, 31.2% of doctors answered "to introduce a professional dietitian license for each disease" and 26.7% of dietitians answered "to change the system in the hospital". Most subjects found that a separation of clinical nutrition services from the food service part is needed. These results suggest that it is important to narrow the difference in perceptions of clinical nutrition services between doctors and dietitians for an organized clinical nutrition management of patients in hospitals in Busan and the Gyeongnam area.