Validation of nursing documentation regarding in-hospital falls: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: In-hospital fall incidents are common and sensitive to nursing care. It is therefore important to have easy access to valid patient data to evaluate and follow-up nursing care. The aim of the study was to validate the nursing documentation, using a specific term in the registered nurses´ (RNs´) discharge note, regarding inpatient falls according to the outcome of a digitalized data extraction tool and the discharge note itself. METHODS: At a teaching hospital, 31,571 episodes of care were eligible for inclusion in this retrospective cohort study. A stratified sampling including five groups was used, two with random sampling and three with total sampling. In total, 1232 episodes of care were reviewed in the electronic patient record using a study-specific protocol. Descriptive statistics were used. RESULTS: In total, 590 episodes of care in the study cohort included 714 falls. When adjusted for the stratified sampling the cumulative incidence for the study population was 1.9%. The positive predictive value in total for the data extraction tool regarding the presence of any fall, in comparison with the record review, was 87.4%. Discrepancies found were, for example, that the RNs, at discharge, stated that the patient had fallen but no documented evidence of that could be detected during admission. It could also be the opposite, that the RNs correctly had documented that no fall had occurred, but the data extraction tool made an incorrect selection. When the latter had been withdrawn, the positive predictive value was 91.5%. Information about minor injuries due to the fall was less accurate. In the group where RNs had stated that the patient had fallen without injury, minor injuries had actually occurred in 28.3% of the episodes of care. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a specific term regarding fall in the RNs´ discharge note seems to be a valid and reliable data measurement and can be used continuously to evaluate and follow-up nursing care.

Subacute complications during recovery from severe traumatic brain injury: frequency and associations with outcome.

BACKGROUND: Medical complications after severe traumatic brain injury (S-TBI) may delay or prevent transfer to rehabilitation units and impact on long-term outcome. OBJECTIVE: Mapping of medical complications in the subacute period after S-TBI and the impact of these complications on 1-year outcome to inform healthcare planning and discussion of prognosis with relatives. SETTING: Prospective multicentre observational study. Recruitment from 6 neurosurgical centres in Sweden and Iceland. PARTICIPANTS AND ASSESSMENTS: Patients aged 18-65 years with S-TBI and acute Glasgow Coma Scale 3-8, who were admitted to neurointensive care. Assessment of medical complications 3 weeks and 3 months after injury. Follow-up to 1 year. 114 patients recruited with follow-up at 1 year as follows: 100 assessed, 7 dead and 7 dropped out. OUTCOME MEASURE: Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended. RESULTS: 68 patients had ≥1 complication 3 weeks after injury. 3 weeks after injury, factors associated with unfavourable outcome at 1 year were: tracheostomy, assisted ventilation, on-going infection, epilepsy and nutrition via nasogastric tube or percutaneous endoscopic gastroscopy (PEG) tube (univariate logistic regression analyses). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that tracheostomy and epilepsy retained significance even after incorporating acute injury severity into the model. 3 months after injury, factors associated with unfavourable outcome were tracheostomy and heterotopic ossification (Fisher's test), infection, hydrocephalus, autonomic instability, PEG feeding and weight loss (univariate logistic regression). PEG feeding and weight loss at 3 months were retained in a multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: Subacute complications occurred in two-thirds of patients. Presence of a tracheostomy or epilepsy at 3 weeks, and of PEG feeding and weight loss at 3 months, had robust associations with unfavourable outcome that were incompletely explained by acute injury severity.

Resources and routines for nutritional assessment of patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the resources and routines for nutritional management until 6 months after severe traumatic brain injury. METHODS: Data collection was performed by use of questionnaires to staff professionals at three regional neurosurgical intensive and 75 other care units and a retrospective survey of medical and nursing records from 64 patients treated at these units. RESULTS: Resources in terms of qualified staff members were reportedly good, while nutritional guidelines were adopted in less than half of the units. Screening for malnutrition at admission was rarely performed and the nutritional data in medical and nursing records were incomplete, i.e. there was a lack of body weight measurements in more than one-third of the care unit episodes and of body height data in more than half of the patients and a declining surveillance of energy intake when patients changed from parenteral or enteral nutrition to oral intake. Assessment of energy requirements relied on calculations and the assignment of who was to estimate it varied depending on which nutritional route was used and also between unit specialities. Finally, information on energy requirement, weight development and body mass index was present in only 16%, 7% and in 2% of the transferrals. CONCLUSIONS: Despite good resources of qualified staff, the nutritional assessment routines were deficient, resulting in incomplete nutritional data and lost nutritional information.

Nutritional treatment of patients with severe traumatic brain injury during the first six months after injury.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored current nutritional treatment policies and nutritional outcome in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, structured survey of the medical records of 64 patients up to 6 months after injury or until the patients were independent in nutritional administration. RESULTS: Enteral nutrition was administered to 86% of patients. Fourteen patients (22%) had a gastrostomy; after 6 months four were still in use. At 6 months, 92% of patients received all food orally and 84% had gained nutritional independence. Energy intake was equal to the calculated basal metabolic rate throughout the first month after injury and increased by 21% during the second month. Sixty-eight percent exhibited signs of malnourishment with weight losses of 10-29%. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that most patients with severe traumatic brain injury regain their nutritional independence within the first 6 months after injury, but also that most develop signs of malnutrition.

Metabolism and nutrition in patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injury: A systematic review.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To examine the evidence on the metabolic state and nutritional treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). RESEARCH DESIGN: A systematic review of the literature. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: From 1547 citations, 232 articles were identified and retrieved for text screening. Thirty-six studies fulfilled the criteria and 30 were accepted for data extraction. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Variations in measurement methods and definitions of metabolic abnormalities hampered comparison of studies. However, consistent data demonstrated increased metabolic rate (96-160% of the predicted values), of hypercatabolism (-3 to -16 g N per day) and of upper gastrointestinal intolerance in the majority of the patients during the first 2 weeks after injury. Data also indicated a tendency towards less morbidity and mortality in early fed patients. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of timing, content and ways of administration of nutritional support on neurological outcome after TBI remains to be demonstrated.