Abstract
BackgroundCritically ill children require optimum feeding in the intensive care units for speedy recovery. Several factors determine their feeding and the feeding method to adopt to address this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the feeding criteria of critically ill children at the neonatal and paediatric intensive care units.MethodsA descriptive qualitative design was used to conduct the study. Six focus group discussions were conducted, and each group had five members. In addition, twelve one-on-one interviews were conducted in two public tertiary teaching hospitals in Ghana and analyzed by content analysis using MAXQDA Plus version 2020 qualitative software. Participants were selected purposively (N = 42).ResultsThe decision to feed a critically ill child in the ICU was largely determined by the child’s medical condition as well as the experts’ knowledge and skills to feed. It emerged from the data that cup feeding, enteral, parenteral, and breastfeeding were the feeding processes employed by the clinicians to feed the critically ill children.ConclusionsRegular in-service training of clinicians on feeding critically ill children, provision of logistics and specialized personnel in the ICU are recommended to reduce possible infant and child mortality resulting from suboptimal feeding.
Highlights
Ill children require optimum feeding in the intensive care units for speedy recovery
Children admitted to neonatal and paediatric intensive care units (ICUs) are at increased risk of mortality due to the complex nature of their illnesses posing a burden on paediatric care [1,2,3,4]
About 10(33 %) of the participants recruited for the focus group discussions (FGDs) were specialized in neonatal nursing, paediatric nursing, critical care, and paediatrics
Summary
Ill children require optimum feeding in the intensive care units for speedy recovery. Several factors determine their feeding and the feeding method to adopt to address this phenomenon. Evidence suggests that 50 % of critically ill children admitted to the intensive care are prone to malnutrition due to increased metabolic rate from their illnesses [2, 5]. It is important for the critically ill to Several determinants affect the feeding of the critically ill child.
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