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Sharing Our Expertise in Nutrition Support TherapyWe've all met those individuals who sincerely see themselves as authentic nutrition experts because "well, after all, [they] eat at least 3 times each and every day!" Regardless of whom we encounter, there is a widespread affinity among all for our field because of the innate appreciation among individuals for the need to eat. This certainly provides us with a sympathetic forum to promote the essential nature of our efforts; however, at times, we stumble upon a lack of appreciation for the specialized clinical, scientific, and technical knowledge necessary for nutrition support experts. And this doesn't just happen at the grocery store and family reunions! As a society, we are familiar with, and certainly face a future with, many nutrition and medical societies who occasionally view our expertise and efforts as redundant with their own. Recognition of this issue led our Board of Directors in October 2007 to establish the strategic direction for A.S.P.E.N. as being the recognized leader and ultimate source for nutrition support expertise, leadership, science, and clinical practice for healthcare professionals, government, regulatory agencies, and the public. Many strategic goals have been designed to set us upon this path, including establishing A.S.P.E.N. as the leading organization in nutrition support therapy among healthcare societies. We are actively seeking to pursue and advance strategic alliances with other organizations wherein our specialized nutrition support expertise can be provided in relevant but novel ways. You may see this as shared task forces addressing issues relating to broad, multifaceted concerns/opportunities, joint guideline statements with organizations having related missions, or intersociety research workshops, such as the successful workshop "Nutrition and Inflammation: Research Makes the Connection" held prior to Clinical Nutrition Week 2008 in Chicago that will be highlighted in a future issue of JPEN. As we partner with other leading nutrition and medical societies, we can present cutting-edge research and practice information, and establish ourselves as the "go to" thought leaders and clinical experts regarding nutrition support therapy. A perfect example of our shared opportunity for leadership was provided by Peggi Guenter, PhD, RN, CNSN, when she contributed as the lead author on a key position statement addressing the often deadly error of tube feeding misconnections, published in May 2008 in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. This valuable publication defines the problem, outlines concerns with commercially available enteral feeding systems and other factors contributing to enteral misconnections, and provides a thorough and systematic list of solutions to decrease the risk of this grave medical mistake. Dr Guenter and her coauthors accomplish all this while sharing the experience of a grieving family who lost their 24-year-old daughter and unborn granddaughter to a tragic enteral feeding misconnection error. To establish ourselves as the recognized leader and ultimate source for nutrition support expertise, we must collectively seize opportunities to share our specialized expertise. Many initiatives are under way, but only together can we identify and fully realize all the opportunities that exist for us to contribute in important and novel ways. It's not just rhetoric—the partnership opportunity that we have through A.S.P.E.N. is truly a means to improve patient care by advancing the science and practice of nutrition support therapy.
As you contemplate this issue, I'd love to hear what's on your
mind—please send your comments, suggestions, concerns, and thoughts to
me at
jpen{at}aspen.nutr.org.
Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, Vol. 32, No. 4,
370 (2008)
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