Nursing Home Malnutrition & Dehydration Kills

Nursing home malnutrition is frequently associated with staffing levels because the simple act of feeding is labor intensive in order to provide the daily care for all residents who need it. Even in nursing care facilities with adequate staffing, patients may still be malnourished or dehydrated because management checks and balances were not in place to assure adequate nutrition and hydration care on a daily basis and were difficult to measure and manage.

What Can You Do To Help?

Nursing home malnutrition and feeding tube complications: Patients, who have feeding tubes, need to be monitored for mechanical, local, gastrointestinal, metabolic, and fluid-electrolyte complications and aspiration. Patients with feeding tubes are often taking numerous medications that have to be crushed and mixed in solvents before being administered, thus altering their bioavailability. Drug + drug and drug + nutrient interactions may be a consideration for absorption and digestion. Clogged feeding tubes are a common occurrence that alters feeding time and impedes administration of medications.

Some feed tubes are uncomfortable which may cause the patient for the need to be restrained during feeding. Complications such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal distention, cramps, and diarrhea are common with tube feeding. Cramping and bloating may be associated with feeding formulas, high-fat formulas, rapid administration, bacterial contamination, or the presence of lactose intolerance.

The lack of dignity and/or pain associated with feeding is all too common in nursing homes. While more than one-third of all nursing home residents with advanced dementia have feeding tubes, a growing number of studies show that feeding tubes do not lengthen life or improve patient care, and may increase the risks of infection.

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Dehydration is a condition in which water or fluid loss far exceeds fluid intake. The body becomes less able to maintain adequate blood pressure, deliver sufficient oxygen and nutrients to the cells, and rid itself of wastes. Regardless of causes, early recognition of the nursing home dehydration problem can help fluid intervention. Is the nursing home paying attention? For many nursing home patients, simple adjustments in drinking patterns may be sufficient. For others, monitoring and correction of fluid intake may be required.

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Nursing Home Malnutrition & Dehydration Kills

Do you have a Nursing Home Abuse case?