A nurse in an Intensive Care Unit

You are a nurse in an Intensive Care Unit. Your patient, Mr. Brown, has been on a vent for about 71 hours. He is receiving IV fluids but no other nutrition (by IV or mouth).

• Why would it be important to keep the interdisciplinary team updated with the following: the amount of days on a vent, fluids via 0.9NaCl (NS) in a 24-hour period, and the amount of time he has been NPO (“nil per os”, nothing by mouth).
• How would you explain to the family what is happening with the patient’s nutritional and fluid status when they ask, “How is Mr. Brown receiving nutrition? The man loved to eat!”