A European survey of enteral nutrition practices and procedures in adult intensive care units

Abstract

This study is relevant to all nurses working in critical care areas. The findings suggest that when an intensive care unit is supported by a nutritional support team it is more likely that a nutritional score will be used and nutritional assessments will be made daily. Many intensive care practices do not conform to international guidelines for enteral feeding. Nutritional assessment and the use of nutritional risk scores are areas that would benefit from further application in intensive care. This study may provide an impetus for intensive care units to review their nutrition assessment practices and to advance evidence-based guidelines, developed by multi-professional teams, which ensure the safe and effective management of patients receiving enteral nutrition.

Investigating critical care nurses' perception regarding enteral nutrition

“…The source of those guidelines was from the accreditation institutions (accredited hospitals) and the hospital policy and procedure manual (non-accredited hospitals). This result was inconsistent with the finding of Persenius et al (2006), Fulbrook et al (2007), and Roynette et al (2008) in which the majority of the participants reported the availability of EN guidelines or protocol. It seems that there are limitations in the dissemination of the EN guidelines in the critical care units that aim to orient nurses regarding the presence and usage of the EN guidelines, and nurses were not aware about the presence of the EN.…”

Methods Used by Critical Care Nurses to Verify Feeding Tube Placement in Clinical Practice

“…39 Our results are in agreement with other studies that reported auscultation was used by 73% to 93% of critical care nurses to verify initial feeding tube placement. 2,40,41 Of the practices examined in our survey, auscultation required the least amount of specialized equipment or supplies, which may be one of the reasons this practice continues to be widely used. 2 It is disconcerting that auscultation continues to be one of the most commonly used methods for feeding tube verification.…”

Monitoring for Intolerance to Gastric Tube Feedings: A National Survey

“…The gap between evidence and practice identified in this survey is consistent with findings from health services research overall. 27,28 Several sets of enteral nutrition guidelines for critically ill patients are available and should be reviewed…”