ABSTRACT

Clinical nutrition is the nutrition support therapy provided to patients under medical supervision at the hospital or home setting. It is a multidisciplinary task performed under the control of the physician, dietician, pharmacist and nurse. In this study, the changes in the patient admission statistics to the general intensive care unit (GICU), the exitus ratios, decubitus ulcer formation rates, albumin use rates, duration of the hospital stay, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores, rate of usege of parenteral and enteral products, and the change in expenses per patient within the first year of activity of the nutrition team in comparison to the previous year was presented.

In this study a 6-bed GICU was used. The patients who was admitted through retrospective file scanning between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012 and between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013 were compared.

The number of the patients admitted to the GICU was 341 in 2012 and 369 in 2013. The number of the patients who died in 2012 was 86 (25.2%), while it was 106 in 2013 (28.7%). In 2012, 122 patients (35.7%) had decubitus ulcers, while this number was 92 (24.7%) in 2013. Human albumin usage was reduced by 23% for the 100 mL (225 in 2012, 175 in 2013) and by 33% for the 50 mL doses (122 in 2012, 82 in 2013). Duration of stay in the hospital was 6.3±0.9 vs. 5.8±0.9 (days) (p=0.06). The mean APACHE II scores were observed to be 24.7±6.9 vs. 30.5±11.4 (p=0.03). When the distribution of product types were analyzed, it was observed that the ratio of parenteral products: enteral products was 2:1 in 2012, however the ratio of enteral products to parenteral products was 2:1 in 2013. The daily expense of a patient decreased from 100 TL to 55 TL.

The nutrition team directly influences the clinical process outcomes of patients under treatment in the ICU. It was thought that using appropriate nutritional products and natural.

Keywords: Clinic Nutrition, malnutrition, nutrition team