Background:Adequate nutritional support is important for the comprehensive management of patients in intensive care units (ICUs).Aim:The study was aimed to survey prevalent enteral nutrition practices in the trauma intensive care unit, nurses’ perception, and their knowledge of enteral feeding.Study Design:The study was conducted in the ICU of a level 1 trauma center, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi, India. The study design used an audit.Materials and Methods:Sixty questionnaires were distributed and the results analyzed. A database was prepared and the audit was done.Results:Forty-two (70%) questionnaires were filled and returned. A majority (38) of staff nurses expressed awareness of nutrition guidelines. A large number (32) of staff nurses knew about nutrition protocols of the ICU. Almost all (40) opined enteral nutrition to be the preferred route of nutrition unless contraindicated. All staff nurses were of opinion that enteral nutrition is to be started at the earliest (within 24–48 h of the ICU stay). Everyone opined that the absence of bowel sounds is an absolute contraindication to initiate enteral feeding. Passage of flatus was considered mandatory before starting enteral nutrition by 86% of the respondents. Everyone knew that the method of Ryle's tube feeding in their ICU is intermittent boluses. Only 4 staff nurses were unaware of any method to confirm Ryle's tube position. The backrest elevation rate was 100%. Gastric residual volumes were always checked, but the amount of the gastric residual volume for the next feed to be withheld varied. The majority said that the unused Ryle's tube feed is to be discarded after 6 h. The most preferred (48%) method to upgrade their knowledge of enteral nutrition was from the ICU protocol manual.Conclusion:Information generated from this study can be helpful in identifying nutrition practices that are lacking and may be used to review and revise enteral feeding practices where necessary.

Introduction Compliance to hand hygiene (HH) is an important measure in preventing infections to patients in health-care settings. Wellness and safety of patients and health-care workers (HCWs) can be achieved by promoting best practices in infection control through education and advocacy. Aims and Objectives To assess the compliance to HH among all cadres of HCWs and its association with hospital-acquired infection (HAI) in patients. Materials and Methods A prospective, observational study was conducted for a period of 5 years (January 2014 to December 2018) in Neuro Trauma intensive care unit. A standard checklist based on World Health Organization’s 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene was used as a tool to measure the HH compliance. Results HAI rate was found to be directly proportional to the compliance to HH. Reduction in HAI rates was reported when there was an increase in HH compliance. HAI of 4.25% was found to be lowest in the year 2015 with the compliance to HH of 63.65%. The HH compliance was also found to be highest (64.63%) in the year 2016 followed by 64.12% in the year 2017. During this period HAI rates were 4.35% and 4.8%, respectively. When the HH compliance declined in the year 2018 to 53.95%, there was an increase in the rate of HAI to 6.9%. Conclusion It could be concluded that HH compliance was associated with the decrease in HAIs. HH could be a simple and cost-effective method in the prevention of HAIs.

Background Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) has distinctive pathophysiology and characteristics that differ from adults. These can be attributed to age-related anatomical and physiological differences and distinct patterns of injuries seen in children. Our aim was to identify the patient characteristics, clinical variables during intensive care and intraoperative management associated with poor functional outcome in a cohort of pediatric TBI patients. Methods Retrospective chart review of pediatric TBI patients admitted to neurotrauma intensive care unit (NICU) over a period of 1 year. Results A total of 105 children (< 12 years) with head injury were admitted in the NICU during the study period. The most common mechanism of injury was fall in 78% cases. Fifty-four patients (51.4%) presented with a severe head injury (Glasgow coma scale [GCS] ≤ 8), while 31 (29.5%) and 20 (19.1%) had a mild and moderate head injury. The most common finding was skull fractures (59%), contusions (36.2%), and subdural hematoma (SDH) (30.4%). Forty nine patients (46.7%) required surgical management. The median duration of anesthesia was 205 (interquartile range [IQR] 65, 375) minutes, and median blood loss during the surgery was 16.7 mL/kg body weight with 41% requiring intraoperative blood transfusions. Median duration of ICU and hospital stay was 5 (IQR 1, 47) and 8 (IQR 1, 123) days, respectively. GOS at discharge ≤ 3 representing poor outcome was present in 35 patients (33.3%). Mortality was seen in 15 (14.3%) patients. Multivariate analysis identified postresuscitation GCS ≤ 8 on admission as independent predictor of mortality, and postresuscitation GCS ≤ 8 on admission and NICU stay of > 7 days as independent predictor of poor outcome. Conclusion Despite advances in neurointensive care, mortality and morbidity remains high in pediatric head trauma and is mainly dependent on postresuscitation GCS and NICU stay of more than 7 days. Multidimensional approach is required for its prevention and management.