Parenteral Nutrition Therapy: Applying New Guidance to Practice

Parenteral nutrition (PN) offers a life-sustaining option when the gastrointestinal tract cannot be used for nutrition or when nutrition goals cannot be met through enteral feeding alone. PN is a high alert, complex, and expensive therapy that must be cautiously utilized to minimize risk for increased potential complicastions and PN Use Process errors. Clinical decisions regarding implementation and management of PN therapy can be challening due to the lack of robust data regarding paretneral nutrition appropriateness. Management decisions are often controversial. This program is targeted toward all allied healthcare professionals who want to keep abreast of new recommendations and strategies for safely prescribing, ordering, compounding, and monitoring PN therapy. This session will systematically review the ASPEN consensus recommendations, When is Parenteral Nutrition Appropriate? (JPEN, 2017) that provide guidance on using PN in a variety of clinical circumstances. These recommendations address clinical indications for PN use across the lifespan and the healthcare continuum. Speakers will discuss the medical diagnoses and clinical situations where PN is appropriate. The use of PN in specific clinical situations includes peripheral PN, perioperative PN, intradialytic PN, PN in palliative care, and PN at home. Additionally, the consensus recommendations support decisions related to managing PN. Participants in this interactive session will learn how to use these consensus recommendations to identify patients for whome PN is appropriate and managing this therapy thorugh completion of case studies.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the challenges for identifying evidence-based indications for parenteral nutrition therapy
2. Apply clinical factors that should be considered when assessing appropriateness for parenteral nutrition, when given a patient scenario
3. Apply practical strategies for the appropriate use of PN in a variety of clinical situations, when given a patient scenario
4. Develop a parenteral nutrition monitoring plan to assess progress toward therapeutic goals, the need to adjust the prescription, and when to wean or discontinue therapy, when given a patient scenario