A Focus on Burns Nutrition

Good nutrition after a burn injury is an often over-looked but critical part of the healing process. The inflammatory response after a moderate or large burn leads to a high basal metabolic rate, protein breakdown, and deficiencies in vitamins and minerals. Children, who are growing as their bodies mend, need extra energy to do so; therapy or play further increase nutritional requirements.

Nutrition was the focus of a two-week specialised training in December at Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital (SKMH), Kathmandu, Nepal, led by Pratibha Sharma from Choithram Hospital and Research Centre, Indore, India.

The training for dieticians, surgeons, nurses and physiotherapists supports the establishment of SKMH as a model centre for training in burns nutrition as part of overall quality improvement at the hospital and in support of Interburns Fellowship programme.  

Key points that were considered in advance of establishing a new Dietetics Department at SKMH included: the availability of dedicated space for consultation;  staffing; access to resources such as weighing scales, body composition analyser, computer; the quality of food service; and provision of regular staff training.

A series of presentations and workshops were held covering the importance of documentation, communication between members of the multi-disciplinary team, and practical tools and resources to support monitoring and delivery of meal plans.  

Out-reach training was also given to dieticians from Kirtipur and Kanti Hospitals as well as to 30 members of the Nepal Dietitian Association.

We would like to thank all those who took part, especially Pratibha for leading such a successful training, and to the staff and management of SKMH, in particular Dr Santosh Bhandari and Dr Rojina Shilpakar for their enthusiastic engagement and support.