Perceptions and experiences of nutritional care following the overwhelming experience of lower extremity amputation: A qualitative study

A scoping review on nutritional intake and nutritional status in people with a major dysvascular lower limb amputation

PURPOSE

To systematically review literature on nutritional intake, nutritional status and nutritional interventions, and to study their association with short- and long-term clinical outcomes in people with a major dysvascular lower limb amputation.

METHODS

PubMed, Ovid, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library were searched. Studies were included if nutritional intake, nutritional status, or nutritional interventions in people with a major dysvascular lower limb amputation were analyzed.

RESULTS

Of the 3038 unique papers identified, 30 studies were included. Methodological quality was moderate (1 study) or weak (29 studies). Limited information was available on nutritional intake (2 studies) and nutritional interventions (1 study). Nutritional intake and nutritional status were assessed by diverse methods. The percentage of people with a poor nutritional status ranged from 1% to 100%. In some studies, measures of poor nutritional status were associated with adverse short- and long-term clinical outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The percentage of people with a poor nutritional status is inconclusive in the major dysvascular lower limb amputation population, because of the heterogeneity of the assessment methods used. Some included studies reported a negative association between poor nutritional status and clinical outcomes. However, these results should be interpreted with caution, because of the limited quality of the studies available. Studies high in methodological quality and high in hierarchy of evidence are needed.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThe proportion of people with a poor nutritional status in the major dysvascular lower limb amputation population is inconclusive.Poor nutritional status seems to affect clinical outcomes negatively.More uniformity in assessment of malnutrition in the major dysvascular lower limb amputation population is needed.

'Why doesn't anyone ask me'? Patients' experiences of receiving, performing and practices of oral care in an acute Orthopaedic Department

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Oral care is an integrated part of everyday life. Within nursing, barriers related to providing oral care often lead to unmet caring needs. Poor oral care is associated with a risk of respiratory and cardiovascular complications during hospitalisation. Knowledge on patients' perspectives of maintaining or receiving oral care during admissions are limited. Following the Fundamentals of Care (FOC) framework, this study uses a person-centred approach to explore patients' perceptions and experiences of receiving or performing oral care, including the nursing staff's clinical practices.

METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN AND JUSTIFICATION

A focussed ethnographic approach was used to explore patients' perspectives and clinical practices during acute admissions in an Orthopaedic Department.

ETHICS ISSUES AND APPROVAL

The local Data Protection Agency and the Ethics Committee approved the study.

RESEARCH METHODS, RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Data were collected in an Orthopaedic ward at a Copenhagen University hospital, Hvidovre, and consisted of 14 days of field observations of clinical practices and 15 patient interviews. Data were analysed inductively using qualitative content analysis. Two themes were identified. The first, 'The purpose of oral care is defined by the eye of the beholder', describes the social implications for the patients and how patients reject the assumption of oral care being a transgressive act. The second, 'The unspoken need', focus on the lack of dialogue, including the limited provision of oral care and how the nursing staff assesses patients' ability to perform oral care (in)dependently without including the patients.

CONCLUSION

Oral care is related to the patient's psychological and physical well-being and affects social appearance. When oral care is provided respectfully, patients do not experience oral care as a transgressive act. Nursing staff's self-assessments of the patients' (in)dependency to perform oral care risk leading to incorrect care. Developing and implementing interventions applicable to the clinical practice is needed.

Dialogue is a prerequisite for the nurse-patient relationship in nutritional care: A secondary analysis using the fundamentals of care framework

BACKGROUND

Providing good nutritional care is complex as it goes beyond assessing and ensuring the patients' dietary needs. So far, nutritional research has mainly focused on establishing evidence for the nutritional treatment, while less attention has been on the complexity of providing nutritional care. The Fundamentals of Care (FoC) describes five elements (focus, knowledge, anticipate, evaluate and trust) essential for establishing a nurse-patient relationship as a foundation for quality care. By studying how these elements shape nutritional care and dialogue, we can explore and describe the complexity of nutritional care.

AIM

By using the FoC framework as an analytic framework, this study explores how the nurse-patient relationship shapes the nutritional care of orthopaedic patients.

METHOD

This study is a secondary analysis using deductive content analysis of interviews with patients undergoing major orthopaedic surgery, nursing staff and observations of interactions between nursing staff and patients. The core dimension of the FoC framework, 'Establishment of relationship,' was used as an analytic framework.

RESULT

The nurses perceived serving meals and providing nutritional supplements as an essential part of the nutritional care. Still, the nutritional care was organised as a routine task to be less time-consuming. Appropriate care was initiated when the nursing staff explored patients´ food preferences. When the nursing staff failed to familiarise themselves with the patient's preferences, the patients interpreted nutritional care as unrelated to their needs, resulting in a lack of trust.

CONCLUSION

The need for efficiency within nutritional care must not compromise the patients' need for dialogue with the nurse. Establishing a trusting relationship between nurses and patients prevents nutritional care from becoming a routine task unrelated to the patients' needs.