Malnutrition During Hospital Stay

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In Today’s Dietitian, registered dietitian Mandy Corrigan highlights the importance of an RD during a patient’s stay in a hospital.  She first approaches the subject by highlighting the 1974 article “Skeleton in the Hospital Closet,” which discusses the incidence of malnutrition in the nations hospitals.   Fast forward 40 years, and we are still dealing with the serious issue today.

It has been found that 1/3 patients enter the hospital malnourished, and if the issue is not addressed within their stay, 2/3 will experience further nutritional decline.  The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) and The American Society of Parental and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) have addressed and are helping the initiative of preventing and treating malnutrition.  AND and ASPEN have developed a standardized protocol for diagnosing adult malnutrition and use an etiology-based definition that utilizes the relationship between malnutrition and disease.  The collaboration between AND and ASPEN also realize that no single parameter defines malnutrition.  Therefore two out of the six developed criteria points must be present to diagnose malnutrition. 

The following actions can be done by dietitians to successfully treat malnutrition:
·      Work with nursing staff and leaders to provide the best possible nutrition screening.
·      Use the resources available (AND, ASPEN, ect.).
·      Utilize nutrition focused physical assessment in your practice.
·      Use the developed criteria from the AND and ASPEN.
·      Document a minimum of two to support nutritional dx.
·      Identify stakeholders and gain their support.
·      Know the negative effects of malnutrition and be ready to discuss with teammates and patients
·      Be a LEADER (visible and vocal member of the health care team).
·      Make sure nutrition is an ongoing component during the patients stay
·      Use the EMR capabilities to document malnutrition.

Corrigan, M.L. (2014). Hospital malnutrition- Standardized guidelines take center stage. Today’s Dietitian, (16)1. Retrieved from http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/010614p40.shtml


-DH

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