Implementation of enteral feeding protocol in an intensive care unit: Before-and-after study

AIMTo determine the effects of implementing an enteral feeding protocol on the nutritional delivery and outcomes of intensive care patients. METHODSAn uncontrolled, observational before-and-after study was performed in a tertiary mixed medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU).In 2013, a nurse-driven enteral feeding protocol was developed and implemented in the ICU.Nutrition and outcome-related data from patients who were treated in the study unit from 2011-2012 (the Before group) and 2014-2015 (the After group) were obtained from a local electronic database, the national Population Registry and the hospital's Infection Control