Topic Collection: Advancing Nutritional Support in Hospitals
Advancing Nutritional Support in Hospitals
Malnutrition is common among hospitalised patients and often leads to poorer outcomes. Nutritional support reduces readmissions and improves survival rates, raising awareness and improving prevention are key to minimising the burden on patients and health systems.
This Topic Collection aims to promote advancements and best practices in nutritional care to optimise patient outcomes and improve healthcare efficiency.
Submissions Open | Submission Deadline: 20th December 2024
Guest Editors
Ally Speight
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3184-9181
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3184-9181Nick Thompson
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle, UK
BAPEN, President
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2955-2613
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2955-2613Malnutrition and nutritional challenges are widespread among hospitalised individuals and if unidentified and untreated, often lead to poorer clinical outcomes and physical and functional decline.
Raising awareness of the prevalence and impact of malnutrition while developing pathways to prevent, assess risk and raise standards in clinical care settings are all essential to minimise the impact on patients and health systems.
Disease-specific and tailored nutritional protocols, including oral supplements, enteral feeding, and parenteral nutrition are indispensable in addressing the diverse dietary requirements of many patients.
Research underscores the positive impact of pre-operative nutritional support on surgical outcomes, length of stay and patient prognosis. Furthermore, a substantial subset of patients affected by chronic gastrointestinal and other disorders necessitates sustained, long-term nutritional assistance to manage their conditions effectively and improve their quality of life.
In acknowledging the diversity of patient needs and the array of available support strategies, delivery routes, and products, we recognize the intricate interplay between basic scientific inquiry, clinical research endeavours, and quality improvement initiatives within this domain.
This Topic Collection aims to promote ongoing advancements and best practice framework in nutritional support protocols to bolster clinical teams in providing optimal nutritional support for patients during their hospital stays, improving care and outcomes. We welcome contributions of a wide range of article types, including original research studies and quality improvement reports to systematic and narrative reviews, as well as clinical guidelines.
Though not limited to, some potential topics may include:
- Principles of clinical nutrition – such as causes and consequences of malnutrition, approaches to nutrition support including monitoring and complications, refeeding syndrome
- Nutrition in hospitalised patients with chronic liver disease
- Nutrition in palliative care and ethical principles of feeding
- Nutrition in renal disease
- Nutrition in acute and chronic pancreatic disease
- Novel approaches to coeliac disease e.g. vaccination
- Nutritional consequences and management of bariatric surgery
- Nutritional changes associated with ageing
- Pre-operative nutrition in inflammatory bowel disease
- Management of type 1 intestinal failure
- Medical management of eating disorders
- Reviews of enteral access techniques
- The clinical application and utilisation of immuno-nutrition
Please see the instructions for authors for submission requirements for each article type. To submit your article, please follow these instructions and select ‘Advancing Nutritional Support in Hospitals’ as the Topic Collection.
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Articles accepted for publication will be published upon acceptance. Visit our author hub for more information regarding the publication process for topic collections.
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For any inquiries regarding this topic collection, please contact topic.collections@bmj.com.
Keywords: clinical nutrition; malnutrition; nutritional support; nutrition screening; nutrition monitoring; nutrition assessment; immuno-nutrition; enteral/parenteral nutrition; nutritional care; dietetics