Article topics: Malnutrition, Oral nutrition support, Pathway, Resources, Screening
Patients at high risk of malnutrition include those who have recently been discharged from hospital, those with chronic diseases, progressive neurological disease, acute illness, frailty, social issues, undergoing rehabilitation or end of life/palliative care (Holdoway et al, 2017). Community nurses are often the first-line of care for these patients and can play an important role in ensuring that they get the best nutritional care. This article discusses some of the areas for consideration when assessing malnutrition risk and outlines a number of new resources designed to assist nursing teams in identifying, monitoring and managing patients at risk of malnutrition.