Positive association between dietetics recommendations and achievement of enteral nutrition outcomes of care.

OBJECTIVE

To identify planned dietetics outcomes of care, dietitians activities performed an recommendations made, and outcome achievement and its relationship to recommendations followed.

DESIGN

A multisite, single-group prospective pilot study was conducted to describe the care provided by dietitians to patients receiving enteral nutrition care.

SUBJECTS/SETTING: Participants were 172 patients (16 of whom died during hospitalization) receiving at least 75% of nutrient requirements from enteral nutrition products. Subjects were from six acute-care facilities and one rehabilitation facility in the Chicago metropolitan area.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Dietitians identified planned outcomes of care to be accomplished and documented activities performed during the provision of care. Data were collected to measure outcome achievement and to determine whether dietitians' recommendations were followed.

STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED

Descriptive data are reported as frequencies or means +/- standard error. Odds ratios were constructed to estimate the association between dietitians' enteral care recommendations and the achievement of planned outcomes of care.

RESULTS

Whether or not enteral nutrition outcomes of care were achieved was positively associated with dietitians' recommendations. The odds of patients' achieving the recommended energy intake goal (P < .001) or increasing (P < .01) or maintaining (P < .04) visceral protein stores were at least four times greater when dietitians' recommendations were followed than when they were not. In addition, dietetics activities performed at the local level were similar to established practices.

APPLICATIONS

Dietitians can identify and measure outcomes of dietetics-related care that demonstrate positive contributions to the interdisciplinary enteral nutrition care process.