No abstract

In the US healthcare system, malnutrition is a common condition, yet it remains underreported and underdiagnosed. The financial costs of disease-associated malnutrition are substantial; hospital-acquired conditions, readmissions, and prolonged lengths of stay are reported to cost as much as $150 billion per year. By contrast, nutrition-focused quality improvement programs for inpatients can help reduce the negative impact of disease-associated malnutrition. Such programs include systematic screening for malnutrition risk on admission, timely malnutrition diagnoses, and prompt nutrition interventions, which have been shown to lower rates of hospital-acquired infections, shorten lengths of stay, reduce readmissions, and lessen costs of care. Nurses are ideally positioned to play critical roles in nutrition-related care-screening for malnutrition on admission, monitoring for and addressing conditions that impede nutrition intake, and ensuring that prescribed nutrition interventions are delivered and administered or consumed. Such nursing support of multidisciplinary nutrition care contributes to better patient outcomes at lower costs. (Nutr Clin Pract.

No abstract

The challenge of caring for patients with fragility fractures is particularly acute for nursing teams who are in short supply and work with patients following fracture on a 24 h basis, coordinating as well as providing complex care. This paper considers the role of nurses within the orthogeriatric team and highlights the value of effective nursing care in patient outcomes. It explores the nature of nursing for patients with fragility fracture with a focus on the provision of safe and effective care and the coordination of care across the interdisciplinary team. It also highlights the need for specific skills in orthopaedic and geriatric nursing as well as specialist education.