Innovations to support hydration care across health and social care

It is known that the primary cause of dehydration in elderly care is caused by a person not regularly drinking enough. Dehydration is a much-publicised national concern, associated with poor outcomes of care and acute hospital admissions. However, in November last year, NHS England stated that the scale of dehydration is not known; in comparison, it confirmed at least three million people are at risk of malnutrition. The stark comparison in information occurs because there is no nationally recognised screening tool to identify who is at risk of dehydration. An innovative nursing role, focused on finding solutions to reduce the risk of dehydration in the care of older and vulnerable persons, has led to the development of a simple dehydration screening tool called 'ROC to drink' (ROC stands for 'reliance on a carer'), which focuses on the level of support needed to drink. An innovative tea cup has been designed to help raise standards for monitoring drinks and raise awareness about intake.

Nasogastric tube feeding: a safe option for patients?

This article will show that fine-bore nasogastric tube feeding can be facilitated for patients when long term percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) or radiologically inserted gastrostomy (RIG) options are not suitable. How the safe replacement of these tubes is facilitated, and what instructions the patient and the nursing home are given to support patient care and safety are also discussed. The decision to support this type of feeding must be completely individualised, considering home and external support agencies available to each patient. The risk assessment completed to facilitate this has been based on the patients' individual circumstances, and a nasogastric tube home passport developed to help in the assessment and decision-making process. For fine-bore nasogastric tube feeding to be safe, it does have to be supported once the patient is discharged from the hospital. A good knowledge of the home support and carer support agencies, and what is available, should be discussed. Multidisciplinary team support is essential in ensuring a safe discharge can be planned and managed. Good patient risk assessment and nursing considerations are discussed to show how the challenges that may prevent a patient discharge with this type of feed are managed. This article will show how two very different patients discharges were facilitated by safe fine-bore nasogastric tube feeding in the community. Patient assessment and nursing considerations are discussed, as well as the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to show how this was successfully achieved in a local district hospital.

Identifying and managing malnutrition in the community

Malnutrition affects more than 3 million people in the UK, most of whom live in the community. Malnutrition is both a cause and consequence of disease and can lead to increased mortality and morbidity, delayed recovery from illness and impaired body function which can make carrying out activities of daily living difficult. Managing malnutrition in the community involves identifying malnutrition using a universally validated screening tool and implementing appropriate care plans according to the degree of malnutrition. Regional and local guidance can be used to assist healthcare professionals to prescribe appropriate oral nutritional supplements and monitor nutritional aims and goals.

[Principles of nutrition in patients with newly appointed stoma]

The treatment of intestinal stoma is often a difficult experience for patients and results in numerous problems in the physical, psychological and social aspects. Therefore, post-operative care of the patient with the newly appointed stoma should be taken by therapeutic team consisting of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians, psychologists and social workers. Appropriate nutritional education of patients aims to improve their quality of life and to prevent from unpleasant ailments formed after the operation. The specific type of stoma may decide about certain dietary recommendations. The presented work provides a practical dietary recommendations for patients with newly appointed stoma.

Nutritional screening: a community dietitian's perspective

Malnutrition in the UK is well documented and highlighted by the British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, who advocate the use of a screening tool to facilitate the identification and subsequent management of undernutrition. Nurses are ideally placed to support this process, but their role has many conflicting priorities. For nurses working in the community, there also exists the problem of identifying those who are at risk of undernutrition but remain unknown to nursing services. This article provides a review of malnutrition and nutrition screening and aims to promote a pragmatic approach to the identification and management of undernutrition in the community. The article concludes with a brief review of current opportunities for improving nutritional care in the community.

Understanding healthy pregnancies: the perspective of Inuit midwives in northwestern Quebec

INTRODUCTION

For 25 years, Inuit midwives have provided perinatal and newborn care for about 90% of the pregnancies in northwestern Quebec. Patients in this region continue to have high rates of preventable nutritional deficiencies. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of professional midwives and students about what makes a healthy pregnancy and a healthy newborn.

METHODS

We convened, via teleconference, a semistructured focus group with the local midwives and students. The conversation focused on local understanding of a healthy pregnancy and a healthy newborn, and the role of midwives in the communities.

RESULTS

Four midwives and 6 students took part in the focus group, representing 80% of local midwives and students. All of the participants were women, and their professional experience ranged from 3 to 25 years. Through inductive thematic analysis, it became apparent that personal experiences and professional training were important determinants of opinions. Midwives believed that the health of women and infants could be improved through better food selection, particularly reliance on traditional nutrient-rich food. They were aware that iron deficiency was a problem and that infants required vitamin D; however, they reported that supplement uptake was poor.

CONCLUSION

Concern was expressed about a decline in traditional beliefs and about unhealthy behaviours. Participants advanced strategies to promote knowledge locally (e.g., visual aids, local radio) to attempt to reduce rates of nutritional deficiencies.

Nutritional issues in infants with cancer

Cancer and cancer therapy may have adverse effects on food intake, absorption and metabolism resulting in malnutrition. Malnutrition can adversely affect tolerance of therapy and hence overall survival. Malnutrition is of particular concern in infants and young children due to limited reserves and the effect undernutrition can play on a patient's weight gain, growth, immune function and overall well-being.

Nurses' role in nutritional assessment and screening (second of a two-part series)

Nutrition is a key issue for healthcare professionals yet the management of nutritional problems by staff is often poor. Malnutrition is recognised as a significant risk for patients in hospital, a risk that nurses have a responsibility to monitor. The first article in this two-part series looked at initial assessment. This article looks at more specific tests that can be used to identify those at risk.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids as Adjunctive Therapy in Crohns Disease

Crohns disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that can have a significant impact on the health of those afflicted. The etiology of the disease is unknown, but genetic, environmental, dietary, and immunological factors are thought to be involved. Multiple nutrients can become depleted during active disease due to inadequate intake or malabsorption. Preventing these deficiencies is paramount in the care of those suffering from Crohns disease. Often the traditional treatments (medications) have limited effectiveness and negative side effects that inhibit their use. Enteral nutrition has promising therapeutic benefits, but its use is often limited to the pediatric population due to poor patient acceptability. Omega-3 fatty acids have been investigated for their anti-inflammatory properties as an alternative to traditional care. This article reviews the etiology of Crohns disease, nutritional deficiencies, traditional treatments, and the use of omega-3 fatty acids in the prevention of Crohns recurrence. The results from clinical trials have been conflicting, but a new fish oil preparation that limits the side effects of traditional fish oil therapy shows promise as an adjunctive treatment for Crohns disease. Continued research is needed to validate these findings.

Nutritional screening and assessment tools for older adults: literature review

AIM

This paper reports a literature review to examine the range of published tools available for use by nurses to screen or assess nutritional status of older adults, and the extent to which validity, reliability, sensitivity, specificity and acceptability of the tools has been addressed.

BACKGROUND

The incidence of malnutrition in older adults is high. One method by which malnutrition or risk of malnutrition can be detected is by the use of nutritional screening or assessment tools.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature review methodology was employed. A variety of electronic databases were searched for the period 1982-2002. Search terms incorporating nutrition, screening, validity, reliability and sensitivity and specificity were combined to retrieve relevant literature. In addition, manual searches were conducted and articles retrieved from those listed in key papers. In this paper, nutritional screening or assessment tools are described as tools which use a questionnaire-type format containing more than one risk factor for malnutrition, and give a quantitative or categorical assessment of risk.

RESULTS

Seventy-one nutritional tools were located, 21 of which were identified as designated for use with an older population. A wide variety of risk factors for malnutrition are used with the tools, ranging from objective measurements to subjective assessment. Some tools identify an action plan based on the score obtained. Many tools appear not to have been subjected to validity and/or reliability testing but are used clinically.

CONCLUSIONS

As malnutrition is present in the older adult population, nutritional assessment and screening tools can be useful to highlight those in need of a nutritional care plan. However, many have not been subjected to evaluation and consequently may not demonstrate sensitivity and/or specificity in clinical use. The decision to use a particular tool should therefore be considered carefully.

[Nursing diagnosis for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation patient: case study]

This case study aims at presenting the follow-up of a patient who underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and the experience of the nursing team of the Centro de Transplante de Medula Ossea (Bone Marrow Transplantation Center) at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the development of the systematization of the nurse practice emphasizing the period of elaboration of the nursing diagnosis. Twenty-six diagnosis established in this case are discussed and put together in the format of a table to allow the reader to have a view of their initial and ending periods, during the in-patient treatment time.

[Common nutritional problems in the elderly: the experience of residents of a long-term care facility]

Nutrition is an unavoidable issue throughout the field of long-term care, occupying a key position in the system. Along with the current trends of population aging, chronic changes in morbidity, functional impairment of health, progressive complexity of care content, the elongation of the caring period and the consequences of these trends, the long-term care burden has become more challenging than ever. Nutrition is just one of many key issues presented by these challenges. The factors associated with nutritional problems are numerous and complex. Residents of long-term care facilities are both representative of elderly people generally and reasonably approachable, and therefore constitute a suitable sample for investigation. To grasp and define the causes of the nutritional problems, conduct periodic nutritional assessments, monitor diet & nutrition, and actively intervene to improve these areas, can be regarded as necessary if the needs of basic and advanced nutrition are to be met, and nutrition is to take its rightful place in the practice of long-term care. Nutritional problems usually consist of malnutrition from inappropriate intake, over-nutrition from over-intake, deficiency of special nutrients, and imbalance of intake from inappropriate ratio of food components. Associated factors include physiological change, morbid condition, medication, financial support and social support.

Clinical skills: importance of nutrition for acutely ill hospital patients

Providing good nutrition to patients in hospital has become a primary focus in many NHS trusts. Whether it is provided by hospital food or nutrition support, the impact of adequate food on patient outcome is now well documented. However, the physiological, social and economic consequences of malnutrition in hospitals must be acknowledged. This article provides an overview of the metabolic changes that occur during starvation in health and in illness. The methods used by different healthcare professionals to assess nutrition are summarized. A review of the range of nutrition support options available and indications for their use is provided. Hospital nutrition is considered in the context of recent national and international recommendations.