Neonatal Nutrition is Key for Ensuring Quality of Life
While advances in intensive care over the past 30 years have significantly improved survival rates for preterm infants, creating a generation of “new survivors,” these infants still face a high risk of complications. Even though these babies are surviving, they’re still at a higher risk for health problems. Proper early nutrition is crucial, not only reducing short- and long-term health issues like ROP and nutrient deficiencies, but also promoting optimal growth and development for a better quality of life.
A Proactive Approach
Early nutrition interventions offer a proactive and potentially cost-effective approach to reducing these complications. By providing optimal nutrition from the start, we can not only improve immediate health outcomes but also significantly decrease the likelihood of long-term issues that require costly medical interventions. In turn, this may translate into:
- Reduced length of stays and readmissions
- Lower overall healthcare expenditures
- More efficient allocation of resources
- Improved quality of life for both infants and their families
Key Challenges in Clinical Nutrition
Clinical nutrition is a dynamic field that faces a range of challenges in delivering effective patient care. These challenges span from individual patient needs to systemic issues, affecting both practitioners and patients. For example,
- Not Enough Time
- Complex TPN calculations
- Achieving target fortification goals
- Optimizing human milk utilization
- Individualizing nutritional plans for diverse patient needs
Addressing these complexities is essential for advancing the practice of clinical nutrition and ensuring optimal health outcomes for all.
Dr. Jiří Dušek
Senior Consultant, HoD
České Budějovice Hospital
Previously, when we used commercially prepared solutions with precisely defined composition and blended them with other substances, it was enormously complicated for doctors to calculate the blending equations. Practically unrealisable.
Common Experiences
Complex Calculations?
- NICU patients have unique and constantly changing nutritional needs due to prematurity, low birth weight, or underlying medical conditions.
- Calculating precise nutritional requirements, especially for TPN, can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
- Factors like fluid restrictions, electrolyte imbalances, and medication interactions further complicate the process.
Not Enough Time?
- NICU professionals are often under immense pressure with heavy workloads and multiple critically ill patients.
- Manually calculating nutritional needs, adjusting plans, and tracking progress can be a significant time burden, taking away from direct patient care.
missing an overview?
- Tracking each infant’s nutritional intake and growth progress can be a constant struggle.
- Losing valuable time sifting through spreadsheets and data, instead of focusing on providing the best possible care.
- Get a complete overview with Nutrium™’s visual feedback.
Individualization Challenges?
- Every NICU patient is different, requiring personalized nutrition plans to optimize growth and development.
- Tailoring plans based on individual needs, lab results, and growth patterns can be challenging and time-consuming.
- Standardizing feeding protocols while still accommodating individual variability is a constant struggle.
Varying Practices?
- Inconsistent practices across the NICU can lead to confusion and potential errors in nutritional care.
- Each healthcare professional may have their own approach, making it difficult to ensure standardized and optimal nutrition for every infant.
Evolving guidelines?
- Nutritional guidelines and best practices in the NICU are constantly evolving based on new research and evidence.
- Staying up-to-date and ensuring adherence to the latest recommendations can be difficult, especially with limited time and resources.
5 Reasons to Use Combined Enteral and Parenteral NICU Nutrition Software
NICU infants often require a combination of enteral and parenteral nutrition, with needs varying per patient. Some may initially rely heavily on parenteral nutrition, gradually transitioning to enteral nutrition as they improve. This necessitates careful consideration and adjustment of both nutrition types for optimal growth and development.
1. Gain a Clearer Picture of Nutritional Status
NICU professionals often face challenges in obtaining a comprehensive overview of an infant’s nutritional status and its impact on growth. A combined enteral/parenteral nutrition software provides a valuable solution for tracking all nutrient intake in one place, enabling informed decisions and proactive interventions to support optimal growth and development.
2. Simplify Complex Nutrition Management
Managing NICU infant nutrition is complex, especially with manual methods, spreadsheets or separate enteral/parenteral software. Combined nutrition software streamlines this, offering a single interface for both enteral and parenteral nutrition, simplifying calculations and nutrition plans.
3. Enhance Understanding with Visual Feedback
Understanding the interplay between enteral and parenteral nutrition and its effect on growth can be challenging. Combined software provides crucial visual feedback through charts, graphs, and growth curves, making it easier to identify trends, monitor progress, and adjust nutrition plans as needed.
4. Enhance Safety and Reduce Errors
Manual nutrition calculations and orders in the NICU carry a risk of prescription errors. Computerized nutrition software has shown to reduce such risk, while built-in safety checks and standardized protocols, potentially reduces errors and improves patient safety further.
5. Improve Data Tracking and Reporting
Comprehensive data is crucial for evaluating nutritional interventions and identifying areas for improvement. Combined nutrition software provides detailed records for tracking progress, informing decisions, and demonstrating compliance.
Sweden's Nutritional Breakthrough
A nationwide study of extremely preterm infants born between 2004-2007, utilizing the Nutrium program, uncovered a concerning reality: nutrient intakes during their crucial first weeks were alarmingly insufficient, resulting in severe postnatal growth failure. This critical insight, made possible by Nutrium’s detailed tracking capabilities, served as a powerful catalyst for change.
Swedish neonatal intensive care units responded with a dedicated focus on improving preterm nutrition practices, leveraging Nutrium to monitor and optimize nutrient intake for these vulnerable infants. This commitment has led to a remarkable transformation, positioning Sweden at the forefront of providing exceptional nutritional care for premature babies. Today, Sweden stands as a shining example of how a nation can leverage technology and research findings to create a lasting, positive impact on the health and well-being of its most vulnerable citizens.
Prof. Magnus Domellöf
MD, PhD, Head of Department
Umeå University Hospital
Nutrium™ has proven invaluable for quality improvement of neonatal nutrition in Sweden and is a great tool for inter-hospital, regional, national and international benchmarking.
National Quality Improvement Projects
We recognize the dedication of NICU teams in striving for optimal care, even amidst the challenges of varying practices across units. Nutrium™ offers a powerful platform to support your collaboration and enhance data-driven decision-making. By leveraging the potential of quality registers, you have the opportunity to collectively analyze trends, compare outcomes, and share best practices, with the ultimate goal of optimizing nutritional care strategies.
Take the initiative to gain insights into your unit’s performance, identify areas for improvement, and implement evidence-based practices to enhance patient outcomes. Access comprehensive data to monitor and evaluate the quality of nutritional care, benchmark against national standards, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Invest in a solution that not only streamlines nutritional care but also demonstrates your commitment to quality improvement and evidence-based practice.
Harness the power of your own data to elevate the standard of neonatal care and ensure every infant thrives.