Decline in Nutritional Status, Nutrition Care Practices, and Health-Related Outcomes of Long Stay Acute Patients

In 2018, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) added malnutrition to the list of hospital-acquired complications (HACs). HACs are preventable complications that arise during hospital stay and are not present on admission. Hospital-acquired complication may lead to negative outcomes on both, patients and the health system buy increasing cost and diverting resources from other patient-care activities. Malnutrition alone has been associated with prolonged hospital stay; higher risk of falls, infections and pressure ulcers, and increased rate of readmission and mortality.  The prevalence of hospital malnutrition on admission has widely been researched and documented, and worryingly, the proportion of malnourished patients increases by discharge.  However,  the in-hospital decline in nutritional status, the nutrition care processes patients received, and  the relationship between nutrition decline and the development of other HACs are yet to be determined and evaluated in long stay acute patients.