Malnutrition In Acute Care

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Multiple researches were done in order to prove that nutrition plays an important role in acute care facilities by taking the process of wound healing as an example to achieve that goal and make nutritional care more recognizable by the hospitals. Many studies have shown different effects that malnutrition can cause during this process. The analysis of the patients in multiple acute care facilities revealed that majority of them are insufficiently nourished or malnourished (Lavrinec, Mikus, Zajec, & Lavrinec, 2007). In malnourished patients, wounds were healing slowly and the risk of development of pressure sores was increased (Lavrinec et al.,2007). The studies on nutritional care affecting the process of the wound healing revealed that nutritional …show more content…
Patients with severe cases of chronic wounds or other complications should be recognized as patients with clinical concern and should be screened for malnutrition as often as once a week (Medlin, 2012). Assessment of the patient should include use of the validated tool which takes into account patient’s body mass index (BMI), percentage of the weight loss and time over which patient has been receiving reduced food intake and the likelihood that reduced intake of nutrients will continue (Medlin, 2012). The most famous and accurate validated tool that is used in many hospitals is Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) (Medlin, 2012). In the process of wound healing it was noticed that inadequate protein intake increases time of the wound healing by making inflammatory phase longer, and therefore making time of patient’s hospitalization longer that it would be with appropriate protein intake provided in their diet by the hospital (Medlin, …show more content…
In addition to that proper fluid intake should be provided to the patient on order to transport nutrients (Medlin, 2012). Adequate water intake is a major part of a balanced diet. It is important for physical performance, mental functioning and it’s been proven that it also can be associated with a number of health benefits (Holdsworth, 2012). These include a lower risk of urinary infection, decrease incidence of hypertension, fatal coronary disease and cerebral infarcts, which prove accuracy of Nightingale’s theory on hydration and clearly show that proper hydration can help the patient to recover more quickly and reduce a danger of the infection or the disease (Holdsworth, 2012). All of these factors clearly display the importance of proper hydration in patients of acute care