Effects of nutrition support team services on outcomes in ICU patients

This study examined the effects of nutrition support team (NST) services on nutrition supply type and patient outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a general hospital in South Korea. We retrospectively analyzed hospital records of patients who received either parenteral or enteral nutrition support during their ICU stays in the second half of NST (Nutrition Support Team) year 1 (2008) and NST year 2 (2009). Several measures of year 1 were compared with those of year 2, when more NST interventions were conducted. Number of nutrition prescriptions delivered to the ICU was 629 in year 1 and 677 in year 2. The increase in NST interventions led to a reduction in costly parenteral nutrition use, especially in surgical units. Number of patients selected for outcome measures was 40 in year 1 and 45 in year 2. There was an average 3.7 days reduction in the length of hospital stays between the two study terms. The average days of fasting were 3.3 days in year 1 and 1.3 days in year 2, which is statistically a significant decrease (p=0.02). The duration of parenteral nutrition decreased from 5.6 to 5.0 days as recommended. Compared with the amount of calories required, an average of 89.4% calories was delivered in year 1, and an average of 99.8% calories was delivered in year 2. Providing NST services in the ICU enhanced adequate nutrition support, cost savings, and better outcomes of the patients.