NUTRIC: Enhancing Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patient Nutrition Consultations

Author

Misty ArmstrongFollow

Date of Award

Summer 2024

Document Type

DNP Executive Summary

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Department

Nursing

Faculty Chair

Cheryl Emich, DNP, ANP-BC, COI

Preceptor

William Lemon, DNP, CRNP

Abstract

Background: Daily nutritional screenings in the critical care population can identify patients in need of nutritional modifications during hospital admission. Inadequate nutritional assessments of critically ill patients lead to poor outcomes. Daily nutritional assessments result in the early identification of patients at risk for nutritional compromise compared to weekly assessments.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to incorporate a daily nutritional assessment using the Nutrition Risk in the Critically Ill (NUTRIC) scores for patients in a surgical intensive care unit to identify patients in need of a referral to a registered dietician.

Methods: The method for this project used secondary data from the surgical intensive care patient to calculate daily NUTRIC scores. Patients scoring five or greater were considered high risk for unmet nutritional needs. These patients required nutritional consultations by the registered dietitian.

Results: The current policy identified 0.29 patients per day or one patient every 3.5 days requiring a nutrition consult by the registered dietitian. Using NUTRIC scores, the number of patients requiring consultations by the registered dietitian increased to 0.57 patients per day or a patient every 1.75 days. Overall, NUTRIC scoring resulted in an increase in dietary referrals of 96.6% in the surgical intensive care patient.

Conclusions: Daily NUTRIC scores identified more at-risk for unmet nutritional needs patients than the facilities’ weekly nutritional assessments in the critical care population thereby increasing registered dietitian consultations.

Keywords: malnutrition, NUTRIC scores, nutritional assessment tool, registered dietitian, critical care, surgical intensive care unit

Recommended Citation

Armstrong, Misty, "NUTRIC: Enhancing Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patient Nutrition Consultations" (2024). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 124.
https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/etds_nursing/124