Observational studies have consistently revealed wide variation in nutritional practices across intensive care units and indicated that the provision of adequate nutrition to critically ill patients is suboptimal. To date, the potential role of critical care nurses in implementing nutritional guideline recommendations and improving nutritional therapy has received little consideration. Factors that influence nurses’ nutritional practices include the lack of guidelines or conflicting evidence-based recommendations pertaining to nurses’ practice, strategies for implementing guidelines that are not tailored to barriers nurses face when feeding patients, strategies to communicate best evidence that do not capitalize on nurses’ preference for seeking information through social interaction, prioritization of nutrition in initial and continuing nursing education, and a lack of interdisciplinary team collaboration in the intensive care unit when decisions on how to feed patients are made. Future research and quality improvement strategies are required to correct these deficits and successfully empower nurses to become nutritional champions at the bedside. Using nurses as agents of change will help standardize nutritional practices and ensure that critically ill patients are optimally fed.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
1 May 2012
Nutrition in Critical Care|
May 01 2012
Optimizing Nutrition in Intensive Care Units: Empowering Critical Care Nurses to Be Effective Agents of Change
Andrea P. Marshall, RN, PhD;
Andrea P. Marshall is professor of acute and complex care nursing at Griffith University and The Gold Coast Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia. Naomi E. Cahill is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a project leader in the Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario. Leah Gramlich is a gastroenterologist and director of nutritional support in the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Gwynne Mac-Donald is a clinical nurse specialist in critical care and Cathy Alberda is a critical care dietitian for Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta. Daren K. Heyland is a critical care physician in the Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Corresponding author: Professor Andrea Marshall, Research Centre for Clinical and Community Practice Innovation, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, QLD, Australia 4222 (e-mail: [email protected]).
Search for other works by this author on:
Naomi E. Cahill, RD, MSc;
Naomi E. Cahill, RD, MSc
Andrea P. Marshall is professor of acute and complex care nursing at Griffith University and The Gold Coast Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia. Naomi E. Cahill is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a project leader in the Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario. Leah Gramlich is a gastroenterologist and director of nutritional support in the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Gwynne Mac-Donald is a clinical nurse specialist in critical care and Cathy Alberda is a critical care dietitian for Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta. Daren K. Heyland is a critical care physician in the Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Search for other works by this author on:
Leah Gramlich, MD;
Leah Gramlich, MD
Andrea P. Marshall is professor of acute and complex care nursing at Griffith University and The Gold Coast Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia. Naomi E. Cahill is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a project leader in the Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario. Leah Gramlich is a gastroenterologist and director of nutritional support in the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Gwynne Mac-Donald is a clinical nurse specialist in critical care and Cathy Alberda is a critical care dietitian for Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta. Daren K. Heyland is a critical care physician in the Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Search for other works by this author on:
Cathy Alberda, RD, MSc;
Cathy Alberda, RD, MSc
Andrea P. Marshall is professor of acute and complex care nursing at Griffith University and The Gold Coast Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia. Naomi E. Cahill is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a project leader in the Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario. Leah Gramlich is a gastroenterologist and director of nutritional support in the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Gwynne Mac-Donald is a clinical nurse specialist in critical care and Cathy Alberda is a critical care dietitian for Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta. Daren K. Heyland is a critical care physician in the Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Search for other works by this author on:
Daren K. Heyland, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Daren K. Heyland, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Andrea P. Marshall is professor of acute and complex care nursing at Griffith University and The Gold Coast Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia. Naomi E. Cahill is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a project leader in the Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario. Leah Gramlich is a gastroenterologist and director of nutritional support in the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Gwynne Mac-Donald is a clinical nurse specialist in critical care and Cathy Alberda is a critical care dietitian for Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta. Daren K. Heyland is a critical care physician in the Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Search for other works by this author on:
Am J Crit Care (2012) 21 (3): 186–194.
Citation
Andrea P. Marshall, Naomi E. Cahill, Leah Gramlich, Gwynne MacDonald, Cathy Alberda, Daren K. Heyland; Optimizing Nutrition in Intensive Care Units: Empowering Critical Care Nurses to Be Effective Agents of Change. Am J Crit Care 1 May 2012; 21 (3): 186–194. doi: https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2012697
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Short-term Access
Purchase short-term access on a pay-per-article or pay-per-issue basis.
$15 72 - hour single article access $30 7 - day full issue access
.svg?versionId=1461)