Introduction
The article chosen for this paper is Comparison of the Prevalence of Malnutrition Diagnosis in Head and Neck, Gastrointestinal, and Lung Cancer Patients by 3 Classification Methods. The problem that the article deals with is identifying those with malnutrition. Many types of patients are at a higher risk of malnutrition. However, the specifics of the patient’s condition can lead to doctors’ and nurses’ inability to correctly identify this ailment. Malnutrition can cause serious health issues, especially for those who are already suffering from severe diseases. In order to provide adequate healthcare, medical professionals need to be able to understand and recognize the symptoms and causes of malnutrition.
Article Search
While searching for the additional article for this paper, the National Library of Medicine database was used. The article is entitled Current Perspective for Tube Feeding in the Elderly: From Identifying Malnutrition to Providing Enteral Nutrition, and it was published in 2018. In order to locate an appropriate article, a range of five years was chosen in the site’s search engine. The list of used terms includes “malnutrition, identifying, symptoms, cancer, elderly, nutrition.” The results of the search showed 2,888 articles that could be potentially used for this paper.
Article Findings
The article found for this paper approaches the issue of identifying patients with malnutrition from the point of showing both causes and symptoms of malnutrition among the elderly. It goes on to explain the reason why older people are at a higher risk of malnutrition and provides methods to mend this illness. The type of research conducted in this study is a narrative review, and it was chosen for its subject of review (patients at higher risk) and its extensive scope of suggestions and recommendations. The findings of this article state that for the identification of malnutrition, the key point is to monitor changes in the patient’s muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown.
Evidence for Practice
The evidence provided in the articles shows that patients with already severe conditions are exposed to the dangers of malnutrition. The problem of malnutrition might be underestimated due to the lack of universally heeded procedures for this ailment’s identification. Depending on the type of diagnosis method, the same sample of cancer patients varied in terms of malnutrition scale from 8.8% to 26%. Among cancer patients, 20 to 80% suffer from malnutrition during the clinical course (Platek, 2011). However, in recent years, more strategies have been devised to identify patients in danger, be it patients in the intensive care unit, the hospital, or at home. In addition, there are methods to mend this condition, for example, inserting an enteral feeding tube through the stomach (Mundi, 2018). There are many recommendations and guidelines on how to choose an appropriate formula for malnutrition diagnosis.
The knowledge of how malnutrition diagnosis can vary based on external and internal factors will allow the diagnosis process to be more thorough. The practitioners’ awareness of what specific metrics and symptoms are used or not used to affirm malnutrition will help them make a decision based on varying criteria instead of employing one. The evidence provided closes the gap between practice and research by suggesting identification strategies, such as specialty formulas (immune-modulating, diabetic, and branched-chain amino acids formulas) (Mundi, 2018). Given that both articles regard patients with severe conditions, a point of concern is whether the suggested methods listed could be successfully applied to patients with less serious medical issues.
Sharing of Evidence
The importance of these findings and evidence makes it crucial to share them with other medical professionals, including doctors and nurses. In addition, the patients themselves should be aware of complications within the structure of diagnosis so that they are more prone to thoroughly report changes in their organism. A good option for sharing this information would be constructing a pamphlet with identification methods and their differences and then disturbing the papers through physical copies or email. The resources needed to accomplish this would be Internet access, a computer, an application akin to Photoshop, and a printer. The information contained in the two articles is vital for the nursing profession since it allows us to see the difficulties of diagnosing malnutrition. However, it not only shows the pitfalls of an unorganized evaluation system but also provides suggestions on how to avoid them. The goals and responsibilities of nursing are less complicated to undertake, with options to learn and grow through the making of independent, educated decisions based on comprehensive research in addition to guidelines.
Conclusion
In conclusion, malnutrition is an issue that nurses and doctors need to be able to recognize and treat in a timely manner. The specifics of malnutrition occurring among patients with severe conditions lead to difficulties in the disease’s identification. Furthermore, the lack of universal diagnosis criteria causes additional complications in recognition and treatment. New developments in formulas for malnutrition identification aid the process; however, the analyzed articles provide these methods only for patients with serious illnesses (cancer, kidney disease, and diabetes). The given findings are essential to share with the medical community since they would allow us to see the problem from various perspectives.
References
Mundi, M. S., Patel, J., McClave, S. A., & Hurt, R. T. (2018). Current perspective for tube feeding in the elderly: from identifying malnutrition to providing of enteral nutrition. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 13, 1353–1364.
Platek, M. E., Popp, J. V., Possinger, C. S., Denysschen, C. A., Horvath, P., & Brown, J. K. (2011). Comparison of the prevalence of malnutrition diagnosis in head and neck, gastrointestinal, and lung cancer patients by 3 classification methods. Cancer Nursing, 34(5), 410–416.