Undernutrition in elderly during hospitalised

Episteme · Apr 24, 2014

1. I disagree with the premise. Nutrition is the most urgent physiological need following oxygen and fluid/electrolytes. On our neuroscience unit we have a lot of demented patients and/or patients with old strokes that have to be fed. So the answer is... they have to be fed. If it takes all day. If it's done 1/4 cup at a time. If we have to retain the tray and nuke the food. It's my job to keep track of how much they eat or don't eat. I need to have a rough guess about the calories they're getting, what they like and don't like, whether they have their teeth in and if the diet is appropriate for their dentition. It's my job to follow their weight every week, and their labs like albumin, Magnesium, phosphate. I have to know when their last BM was.

2. My patients are not malnourished. If I can't get food in to them adequately... if they cannot swallow dependably and safely... it's my job to be discussing with the physician the need for a feeding tube.

3. You can't fix a problem if you don't have data. You need to do your homework... collect the information you need to prove you're understaffed (because... if you can't nourish your patients, you are staffed inappropriately for your census and average acuity.) You collect the data for a long time, crunch the numbers, and prove to the suits that it is cost effective to have a lower patient:nurse ratio.

One of my favorite Florence Nightingale quotes is:

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2014

Although Episteme has very helpfully answered your homework question for you, OP, I'd like to hear what you think, and why.