When explaining parenteral nutrition, the nurse would describe this method as providing nutrients to the patient by way of which of the following?

Appetite stimulation in hospitalized clients can be challenging due to illness, hospital routines, and unfamiliar foods. Nurses play a crucial role in promoting nutrition by addressing barriers such as pain, treatment schedules, and food preferences.

Rationale for correct answer:

2. Encouraging food from home when possible: Familiar foods can enhance appetite, provide comfort, and increase food intake.

Rationale for incorrect answers:

1. Administering pain medication after meals: Pain should be controlled before meals to improve comfort and willingness to eat. Giving it after meals does not promote appetite.

3. Scheduling his respiratory therapy before each meal: Treatments before meals may tire or stress the client, reducing appetite. They should ideally be scheduled after meals.

4. Reinforcing the importance of his eating exactly what is delivered to him: Strict enforcement can create resistance and does not address appetite stimulation. Flexibility is more effective.

Take home points:

• Appetite is best stimulated with comfort measures such as familiar, preferred foods.
• Nursing interventions should reduce barriers to eating (pain, fatigue, dislike of hospital food) rather than enforce strict compliance.

Continuous enteral feedings increase aspiration risk and require careful positioning and securement. When delegating or observing AP care, the nurse must intervene immediately for actions that increase aspiration or dislodge the tube.

Rationale for correct answer:

2. Placing patient supine while giving a bath: Supine position during ongoing feedings greatly increases risk of reflux and aspiration. The head of bed should be elevated (usually 30–45°) during continuous enteral feeding.

Rationale for incorrect answers:

1. Fastening tube to the gown with new tape: Appropriate and good practice to prevent tube dislodgement as long as the tube is secured without tension and the tape is applied correctly.

3. Monitoring the patient’s weight as ordered: Appropriate nursing activity; weight monitoring is part of routine assessment for nutritional status and tube-feeding effectiveness.

4. Ambulating patient with enteral feedings still infusing: Often acceptable if the feeding is on a pump, tubing is secured, and patient stability/transfer protocols are followed.

Take home points:

• Never allow a patient to be supine during continuous enteral feeding - always keep HOB elevated (30-45°) to reduce aspiration risk.
• Secure the tube properly and monitor safety during ambulation; intervene immediately for positioning or securement practices that increase aspiration/dislodgement risk.