Factors affecting implementation of enteral feeding among ICU and Emergency Nurses in one of the referral hospitals in Kigali,Rwanda.

Abstract

Critical care: According to Intensive Care Society document Levels of Critical Care for Adult Patients (2009) in Therapists et al., 2013, is defined as specialty staffed and equipped, separate and self-contained area of a hospital dedicated to the management and monitoring of patients with life threatening conditions. Enteral feeding: Feeding provided through the gastrointestinal tract via a tube, catheter, or stoma that delivers nutrients distal to the oral cavity (Cober et al., 2015). Emergency care: A sudden and usually unforeseen event that calls for immediate measures to minimize its adverse consequences (WHO, 2008). Nutritional support: According to Hussein, 2008: Nutritional support is a vital part of the treatment in patients with critical illness and injury. Nutrition therapy: According to Cahill et al., (2014) nutritional therapies are individualized and targeted nutritional care measures using diet or artificial nutritional support. Nutritional therapies can be therapeutic or preventive. Barrier: is defined as factors that hinder the implementation of recommended guidelines in clinical practice and this result in an increased gap between recommended guidelines and practices.