Clinical Nutrition University: Incidence and recognition of malnutrition in community and hospital awareness on clinical nutrition support

6^th World Nursing and Healthcare Conference

August 15-17, 2016 London, UK

Regina Komsa-Penkova

Medical University-Pleven, Bulgaria

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Inadequate provision of energy and nutrients create the condition of malnutrition, which is associated with an increased morbidity, complications and hospitalizations. Eight out of ten leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world are nutrition related. Both under- and over-nutrition are not beneficial. This observation is supported by wide-ranging evidence that continues to grow. Malnutrition is a challenging issue for hospitals and communities, which is not given proper attention. There are inadequate processes to identify patients who are malnourished or at risk in hospitals and in the community. It is also clear that disease can induce an increase in nutritional needs or decrease in food intake. Prominent lack of awareness among caregivers and patients themselves about malnutrition produce a crucial impact on clinical outcome. Healthcare professionals are uniquely positioned to provide information and encourage patients about personalised nutrition. The key importance for health professionals is to have a competence and skills in nutrition and to apply it to all aspects of health care. The knowledge and skills in nutrition and personal attributes must contribute to better performance and ultimate result in patient health. Many barriers exist for better nutrition education by healthcare professionals like limited patient contact time, lack of awareness and administrative support, etc. Action need to be taken now to ensure that nutrition support is to be provided to the patients with significant objective benefits regarding clinical outcome and quality of life. Nutritional health depends on essential nutrient intake. Chronic imbalances of diet in varying lifestyles and genetics cause metabolic diseases. New scientific knowledge on personalised diet, metabolomics and microbiota should be introduced. When awareness meets strategy, it has the potential to change the world.

Biography :

Regina Komsa-Penkova is the Co-Director of Life Long Learning Program for Continuous Medical Education of Physicians in Clinical Nutrition, in the frame of ESPEN – European Society in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism since 2005, Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Ex Vice-Dean of Faculty of Medicine (2009-2013), Medical University-Pleven, Bulgaria.

Email: rkomsa@gmail.com