Personalised nutrition may play a vital role in helping critically ill patients recover more quickly and with fewer complications after major surgery, trauma, burns and other life-threatening conditions.

A systematic appraisal of current nutrition guidelines published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, reviewed 17 nutrition guidelines from around the world and found that while there is extensive guidance for critically ill patients, no nutrition guidelines are designed specifically for people recovering from major surgery while critically ill.

A new Cochrane review led by the University of Exeter has found that programmes tailored to individual risk, known as multifactorial programmes, probably make no difference to how often people fall or the risk of falling, compared with offering falls advice or education. 

While burnout in the medical field is well documented, affecting about half of healthcare workers, far fewer studies have explored ways to address it. Now, a Northwestern Medicine study has found one simple intervention may help. In the new study, 724 Northwestern Medicine physicians and neurology staff and Chicago-area social workers laid in a quiet, dimly lit room and listened to 20 minutes of live or pre-recorded restorative improvisatory music consisting of slow, meandering melodies interspersed with periods of silence. (Listen to recordings used in the study.)

After the intervention, the clinicians reported improvements in mood and energy levels, with average self-reported energy increasing from 56% before the intervention to 83% after it.