Objective To investigate the current status of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of refeeding syndrome (RFS) and training needs among ICU nurses, and provide reference for related training.

Methods A self-developed questionnaire was used to conduct an online questionnaire survey among ICU nurses in 9 tertiary hospitals in Anhui Province.

Results A total of 450 valid questionnaires were collected. The total score rate of knowledge, attitude and practice of RFS for ICU nurses was 70.19%, and the score rates of knowledge, attitude and behavior were 58.78%, 81.51% and 80.12%, respectively. The results of Univariate analysis showed that the age, professional title, years of nursing work, final educational attainment, ICU category, whether a member of the nutrition group, whether having participated in RFS training and frequency of obtaining RFS knowledge from academic journals were the influencing factors of ICU nurses' RFS knowledge, attitude and practice (P ＜ 0.05). The 57.11%ICU nurses thought that the current knowledge of RFS could not meet the needs of clinical work, and more than 80% ICU nurses hoped to be trained in RFS theoretical knowledge, practical skills and clinical thinking and judgment ability.

Conclusions ICU nurses have insufficient knowledge of RFS, but their attitudes and behaviors are relatively good. According to the needs of ICU nurses and clinical practice, the scientific and systematic training related to RFS should be regularly carried out.