A Prospective Multi-Center Audit of Nutrition Support Parameters Following Burn Injury

Area of Science:

• Clinical Nutrition
• Burn Care
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Effective nutrition support is crucial for severe burn patients.
• Current nutrition provision in clinical practice may be suboptimal.
• Standardized audit criteria are needed to assess nutrition delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a prospective, multi-center audit of nutrition support delivery in severe burn patients.
• To evaluate current practices against the Joanna Briggs Institute Burns Node Nutrition audit criteria.
• To identify areas for clinical improvement in nutrition provision for burn survivors.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, multi-center audit across Australia and New Zealand.
• Inclusion of 34 patients with severe burn injury (≥20% TBSA adults, ≥10% TBSA children).
• Data analysis using the Joanna Briggs Institute's Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System.

Main Results:

• Compliance with audit criteria varied from 33% to 100%.
• Key areas for improvement identified: provision of prescribed enteral feed volumes and weekly patient weighing.
• The audit facilitated a standardized, multi-center evaluation of nutrition care.

Conclusions:

• Nutrition support delivery in burn patients requires ongoing clinical improvement in Australia and New Zealand.
• Clinical audit is essential for evaluating practice against evidence and ensuring quality care.
• The audit results have prompted a review of nutrition quality indicators in the Bi-National Burns Registry.