Examination of nutritional status of adult patients in intensive care unıt

This is a descriptive and analytical study which aims to evaluate nutritional status of the patients who stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), to explain relationship between nutrition and prognosis, pressure ulcers and infection, to examine the reasons of nutrition interruptions, to determine observed complications. The sample of this study constitutes 125 patients who are over the age of 18 and also took enteral, parenteral or combined (enteral and parenteral) nutrition and have stayed in the Medical Intensive Care Unit , Reanimation and Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) of a university hospital for at least 24 hours. The data of this study was collected by "Adult Intensive Care Patients Nutritional Status Diagnostics Form" which has been prepared by researcher based on literature and the researcher's clinical experience. The data was obtained from intensive care follow-up and treatment form and from interviews with nurses and caregivers by going ICU for every second day of 3 month. Anthropometric measurements were made by the researcher. In this study 40.8% of the patients were female, 59.2% of the patients were male, the mean age of the patients was 66.42 years. The mean APACHE II scores of the patients was 24.55. The mean of nutrition starting time was at the 12.69 hours and is consistent with the literature. It was preferred enteral nutrition for 32.8% of the patients, parental nutrition for 33.6% of the patients and combined nutrition for 33.6% of the patients. The amount of calories the patients took were found less than the amount of target calories for each of these three nutrition ways. Nutrition is interruption for various reasons and 25.6% of interruptions is because of the medical reasons. 64.8% of enteral nutrition patients and 57.6% of parenteral nutrition patients was observed at least one complication, hyperglycemia is the most common complication for both nutrition ways. According to the results obtained from this study, intensive care unit patients are not fed enough because of various suspensions and complications. Key words: Intensive Care Unit, APACHE II, complication, interruption, pressure ulcer