vides some very concrete and direct steps that nurses can take when dealing with malnourished wound victims. Thus, it is of very practical significance for nurses.
A final and important point made by Hughes (2003) regarding the significance of the article for community health nursing is that it provides strong support for the idea that focusing on the nutritional health of the patient should be a routine element of treatment for wound victims. Nutritional assessment and recommendations for treatment should indeed be part of what every community health nurse does when working with wound victims.
Hughes, S. (2003). Nutrition and healing. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 17(4), 22-26.
Hughes, S. (2003). Nutrition and healing. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 17(4), 22-26.
Optimal nutrition facilitates wound healing, maintains immune
competence and decreases the risk of infection. The body is a
remarkable thing and most wounds heal rather than not.
However, healing can be delayed and the risk of complications
(including tissue breakdown) increased by a range of
nutritional influences. These include inadequate intake of
certain vitamins and minerals, food energy, or specific
macronutrients (protein particularly). Excessive intake of
food also can have deleterious effects on wound healing
Wound nutrition is essentially whole body nutrition and its
goal is to maintain body mass, limit weight loss and provide
adequate nutrients to promote healing (Brylinsky 1995, Thomas
1996). Many factors both extrinsic and intrinsic affect the
What is malnutrition?
Malnutrition results when an individuals nutrient int...