Perioperative nutrition problems. Nursing management.

Because critically ill surgical patients requiring nutritional support have altered metabolic pathways and are frequently hypermetabolic, catabolic, and hyperglycemic, nurses play an important role in monitoring their care. These metabolic changes place the patient at risk for rapid muscle wasting and nutritional depletion. Enteral and parenteral support provide specialized routes for the delivery of nutrients but have inherent risks and complications. Diarrhea and aspiration pneumonia are consistently reported complications of tube feeding on which nurses have a great impact. Further research is critical to improving nursing practice and patient care. CVC infection continues to plague the delivery of parenteral nutrition. Nurses must remain abreast of current research in this area and apply it in the clinical setting to improve patient care.