Who is responsible for a patient ’ s nutrition care after leaving hospital ?
Is it their GP , a community-based dietitian , or the patient themselves ?
Involving the patient in their care
Clinician engagement of patients ( or their carers ) is a fundamental standard of care , and malnutrition is no exception . To determine the benefits of engaging patients as active participants , a 2023 study applied patient-reported measures to identify the proportion of malnourished inpatients seen by dietitians that reported engagement in key nutrition care processes 1 .
The findings from the audit of 71 patients across nine Queensland hospitals highlighted an alarming gap in the way information on malnutrition is communicated . Almost all malnourished patients with at least one dietitian chart entry received oral nutrition support . Yet , what ’ s perplexing is that just one in four of these patients reported receiving information about being malnourished .
© Dietitian Connection 23 Infuse | October 2023