The Clinical Implications of Hydration in the Care of Enterally Fed Patients Across the Lifespan
December 10, 2025 | 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Time: 13:00 - 14:00 ET (1:00pm - 2:00pm ET)
REGISTER HERE
Speakers:
Leah Gramlich MD, FRCP (Professor of Medicine, University of Alberta) and Beth Lyman, MSN, RN, FASPEN, FAAN (Nutrition Support Nurse Consultant)
Webinar description:
The number of patients of all age groups who require long-term enteral feeding is increasing as this nutrition intervention can improve the quality of life for the patient and caregiver(s). With long term enteral feeding comes the onus to provide comprehensive patient/caregiver education and monitoring. One of the often overlooked, yet crucial, parameters to monitor is hydration status. The importance of fluid balance in the body does not wane with aging but the signs and symptoms of fluid deficit do change somewhat as the individual ages. It is imperative that patients and caregivers be taught how to recognize signs and symptoms of dehydration, how to prevent it and how to treat it. There are workflow issues to be considered when evaluating how best to prevent dehydration for both families and clinicians. This presentation will address the importance of providing adequate fluid to enterally fed patients, empowering families to address this issue at home and discussion of treatment options for patients across the lifespan.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:
- Explain the physiologic functions of wate
- Identify the signs and symptoms of dehydration
- Summarize the treatment options for treatment of dehydration
- Analyze the processes for providing additional water in terms of infection prevention
- Examine the clinical and workflow benefits of an enteral pump that delivers automated water flushes
Moderator: Marlis Atkins, RD (Alberta Health Services)
About the Speakers:
.jpg)
Leah Gramlich MD, FRCP is a physician, nutritionist specialist and Gastroenterologist. She is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta with a cross appointment in Agriculture Life and Environmental Science. She is also Provincial Medical Advisor for Nutrition Services. Dr. Gramlich is dedicated to patient care and has an evolving interest in food for health and in empowering health practitioners with the tools to meet patient needs relative to food and activity for health. Her other research interests include implementation in nutrition, malnutrition, nutrition and cancer, nutrition in critical illness, nutrition therapy in the home and nutrition education. She is past president and founding president of the Canadian Nutrition Society and is past chair of the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force. She has sat on the board of directors of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
Beth Lyman, MSN, RN, FASPEN, FAAN has a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is a fellow of ASPEN and the American Academy of Nursing. She has over 4 decades of experience in adult and pediatric nutrition support nursing. She retired from Children’s Mercy Kansas City in 2019 where she served as the Sr. Program Coordinator for the Nutrition Support Team. During that time at Children’s Mercy, she helped form the Intestinal Rehab Program and the Enteral Access Team. She managed 18 HPN patients at the time of her retirement and dozens of enterally fed children. Beth taught gastrostomy tube replacement and management skills to attending physicians, residents, advanced practice nurses and staff nurse superusers. She is now a consultant and remains an active member of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) and has served on the ASPEN board of directors, as chair of the Nursing Practice Section and on numerous committees and task forces over the years. In 2023, Beth received the Clinical Excellence Award from ASPEN. She is the former chair of the NOVEL project (New Opportunities for Enteral tube Location) which is an inter-organizational, interdisciplinary, international effort to define and disseminate information regarding nasogastric feeding tube placement verification in infants and children.
Webinar sponsored by
The views expressed by speakers or other third parties in CNS webinars, events and/or conferences are those of the speaker or third-party and not necessarily of CNS.
CNS is committed to maintaining responsible and transparent processes with respect to support received from industry partners and sponsors for all CNS activities. While input from industry partners and sponsors is valued by CNS, final control over session topics and content, speaker participation, award recipients, or other factors related to CNS activities is retained by the Society. All CNS conference program content, educational initiatives and award recipients are reviewed and approved by respective CNS committees.
Webinar Certificates of Attendance are an exclusive benefit for current CNS members in good standing. To receive a certificate, members must join the live webinar using their CNS-affiliated email address. Please note, certificates will not be issued to non-CNS members.