Nutrition : A Handbook for Nurses

This book provides a comprehensive look at all aspects of nutrition from roles and responsibilities to caring for a patient with specific nutritional needs. It is aimed primarily at nurses and addresses some of the issues they will encounter when caring for patients nutritional needs in a hospital setting. It also highlights the benefits of a hospital based Nutrition Team providing a multidisciplinary approach to nutrition. It includes a number of case studies to clarify some of the issues discussed and concludes by examining issues that need to be considered before discharging a patient home from hospital into the community.

Contributors.Preface.Introduction.1 National and European Initiatives to Improve Standards of Nutritional Care (Carolyn Best).Introduction.National and European initiatives 1990-2007.2 Malnutrition (Harriet Gordon and Helen Hitchings).Introduction.What is malnutrition?Signs and consequences of malnutrition.Specifi c vitamin and mineral deficiencies.Management of malnutrition.Nutrition support.Recognising and managing malnutrition in obese patients.3 Nutrition Screening and Assessment (Helen Hitchings).Introduction.Nutrition screening.Nutrition assessment.Screening tools.Documentation.When to refer to a dietitian.4 The Nursing Role in Maintaining Patients' Oral Nutritional Intake (Carolyn Best).Introduction.Identifying the problems.Registered nurse responsibilities in patient nutrition.The responsibilities of the healthcare assistant.Roles and responsibilities of other individuals involved in patient nutrition.The patient in hospital.Recommendations to improve patient intake.Safety considerations when assisting a patient to eat.Helping the dysphagic patient to eat.Effects of dementia on oral nutritional intake.Red trays.Protected mealtimes.Recording food intake.Use of specialised equipment.Educating healthcare workers to assist patients with their meals.5 Enteral Nutrition (Carolyn Best, Helen Hitchings, Joanna Boult and Harriet Gordon).Introduction.Oral nutrition support.Options for enteral tube feeding: short-term feeding.Options for enteral tube feeding: long-term feeding.Enteral tube feeds.Drug administration through an enteral feeding tube.Flushing enteral feeding tubes.6 Parenteral Nutrition (Carolyn Best, Helen Hitchings, Joanna Boult and Harriet Gordon).Introduction.Indications of parenteral nutrition.Clinical assessment of the patient requiring parenteral nutrition.Routes for intravenous accessTypes of central venous catheter.Non-central access options.Multi-lumen vs single-lumen catheters.Confi rming central venous catheter tip position.Using a previously used central venous catheter.Aftercare of line and insertion site.Dressing changes.Observations.Flushing following insertion.Estimating nutritional requirements.Biochemical and haematological assessment.Preparations available.Nutritional content of parenteral nutrition.Allergies to components of parenteral nutrition.Drug therapy that may affect nutrition support.Care of parenteral nutrition before administration.Mode of delivery: continuous or cyclical administration.Administration of medication through a central venous catheter.Should an in-line fi lter be used?Maintaining catheter patency.Patient monitoring.Complications associated with the administration of parenteral nutrition.Discontinuing parenteral nutrition.Removal of a central venous catheter.#