Gaps between Nutrition Support Guidelines and the Applications of Parenteral Nutrition

The literature suggests that gaps exist between nutrition support guidelines and the actual process of ordering/prescription, compounding, and administration. The purpose of this study was to describe the gaps, summarize the reasons, and present possible solutions to improve parenteral nutrition (PN) safety. This was a pilot study and provided the rationale for the data collection project. Ten articles were reviewed. Key words such as quality, parenteral nutrition, energy intake, and quality assurance were used in searching the databases of the ASN, American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and PubMed. Study outcomes were provided according to the current categories of PN safety: ordering/prescription, compounding, and administration. Thirty percent of the articles indicated inadequate PN administration, 70% of the articles showed noncompliance with nutritional support guidelines, and 20% of the articles indicated inappropriate PN. In this literature review, the gaps mainly occurred in ordering/prescription (n = 7 studies) and administration (n = 8 studies). Drug shortages, the lack of a nutrition support team in the facility, insufficient communication between medical care team members, and insufficient education among medical care team members were listed as sources of the gaps. Possible suggestions include establishing a nutrition support team, increasing communication between healt...
Source: Advances in Nutrition - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: Vitamins, Minerals, and Bioactives Source Type: research