Prescription and administration of nutrients in ICU: San José Hospital, October to December 2004

Prescripción y administración de nutrientes en UCI: Hospital de San José, octubre a diciembre de 2004

The work of the nurse in nutritional support is based on applying the knowledge to maintain or restore good metabolic nutritional status through a useful artificial diet taking advantage of technological advances, with special emphasis on surveillance and care for the detection and prevention of complications . All this in conjunction with the health team, to improve the quality of life of the patient. The present work is the result of a project that has been developed in a descriptive way to compare what is prescribed and administered in parenteral, enteral or mixed nutrition to the patients of the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Hospital of San José in the period from October to December 2004. The total population of patients treated in the ICU with nutritional support either enteral or parenteral in that period was 25. After the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the sample decreased to 16 , of which 81% were women and 19% men. Enteral nutrition was the most frequent, administered to at least 10 of the 16 patients that made up the sample (62.5%). The study revealed that both enteral and parenteral do not always meet the requirements necessary to meet the metabolic demands of the patient in critical condition and therefore is inadequately nourished by defect or excess, without taking into account that it can cause metabolic decompensation .

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