Evaluation of Enteral Nutrition Practices and Variations of Intensive Care Unit Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the nurses enteral nutrition practices in intensive care unit (ICU) Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between October 2016 and February 2017 with 156 ICU nurses working in four hospitals in İzmir/Turkey. Data were collected with “an Individual Descriptive Form” and “an enteral nutrition (EN) data collection form” which were developed by the researchers based on the literature. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results: It was found that 64.7% of the nurses did not use any EN guideline, and 62.2% routinely interrupted continuous enteral feeding. It was found that 82.1% of nurses monitored gastric residual volume (GRV), but there were differences in the frequency of GRV assessment and the values considered high. Furthermore, significant differencess were observed among nurses in practices such as confirming the tube placement, patient positioning, and managing gastric contents. Conclusion: There are substantial differences in enteral nutrition practices among ICU nurses. These findings indicate insufficient use of evidence-based guidelines and lack of standardization in clinical practice. To improve patient safety and reduce complications, it is recommended to disseminate evidence-based guidelines and conduct training programs for nurses.