Physician compliance with registered dietitian recommendations in total parenteral nutrition patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine physician compliance with registered dietitian (RD) recommendations for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) patients and its effect on patient length of hospital stay, days of TPN administration, body weights, albumin and prealburnin levels, and mortality rates. Closed medical charts, from a 350-bed acute care hospital, were reviewed for 202 patients who had received TPN during 2007. Data was analyzed using the non-parametric chi square test of association and one-way analysis of variance. Patients had increased lengths of hospital stay (p < .01), increased days of TPN admini stration (p = .066), and higher albumin levels at time of hospital discharge (p < .05), when physicians complied with RD recommendations. However, physician compliance did not have a significant effect on patients' weights or mortality. Additional research should be conducted in other hospitals to evaluate the frequencies and outcomes of physician compliance with RD TPN recommendations.