- 18 Mar, 2021
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respond to discussion prompts
the two discussion is about Explain why a nurse’s initial assessment is so important to a patient’s nutritional status. what should be considered? please respond to two discussion half a page for each discussion separately
Discussion 1
COLLAPSE
There are many aspects to consider when conducting a patient’s admission, however one aspect of vital importance is the patient’s nutritional status. The nutritional status of a patient can uncover an abundance of crucial information concerning the patient’s overall health status and should be considered just as relevant as the head-to-toe assessment. The nutrition the patient takes in to fuel their body touches all aspects of their life; food is deeply cultural, religious, it brings families together, as well as promoting healthy growth and development.
Nutrition serves as the very baseline of health for every patient. According to Dudek, a healthy nutritional intake used in conjunction with physical exercise can be equal to, if not better than pharmacological intervention when treating certain illnesses (2018, p. 6). Through a nutritional assessment, nurses can discover if a patient is either malnutritional or at risk for malnutrition. This means they are not successfully reaching their basic physiological needs. This results in failure to obtain any of the other levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and will continue to be a deficit until those nutritional needs are met.
There is a strong connection between nutritional intake and quality of life (Kyle & Coss-Bu, 2010). Through a nutritional assessment we can find out the quality of life of a patient who is suffering from another comorbidity. Those who suffer from a chronic disease may have poor food intake, if they are not taking in enough food this may result in decreased energy levels and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Gastrointestinal dysfunction can result in gastric ulcers and infection, which can lead to further decreased levels of food intake and the vicious cycle will continue to perpetuate itself while quality of life for the patient deteriorates. Nurses are at the forefront of patient care and interaction, which is why it is our responsibility to screen for the overall health of our patients holistically, of which nutrition is a part.
References
Dudek, S. G. (2018). Nutrition essentials for nursing practice(8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA:
Wolters Kluwer.
Kyle, U. G., & Coss-Bu, J. A. (2010). Nutritional assessment and length of hospital stay. CMAJ :
Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l’Association medicale canadienne, 182(17), 1831–1832. doi:10.1503/cmaj.101256
RE: Discussion 1
COLLAPSE
A nurse’s initial assessment is important to a patient’s nutritional status because it allows the nurse to obtain a baseline of the patient’s current status. By doing both an initial assessment and obtaining a baseline, it allows the nurse to detect any unwanted changes in the patient’s nutrition status during their stay in the hospital. The patient’s development, age, risk for disease, body weight, and any drastic weight changes should be considered when assessing the patient’s nutritional status because all of these can have serious effects on the patient’s overall health and quality of life (Dudek, 2018, p. 3).
When doing a full head-to-toe assessment, the nurse must collect essential information that takes into consideration the patient’s physiological needs, which means that a nutritional assessment should be done. A nutritional assessment is needed in order to determine if the patient is meeting the requirements of the first level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which includes food, sleep, water, and more. Doing a nutritional assessment is also important because many patients, especially older adults, believe in their mind that they’re completely healthy. However, a nutritional assessment allows the nurse to be certain if whether or not the patient is actually healthy or not healthy (Dudek, 2018, p. 3). In addition, by doing a thorough nutritional assessment, the nurse can find out what is both normal and abnormal about the patient’s body. Doing both a head-to-toe and nutritional assessment can also help recognize both the patient’s present and future needs in their plan of care (Toney-Butler & Unison-Pace, 2019). By taking into consideration all of the data that was obtained in both assessments, it will allow the nurse to determine if the patient is malnourished or at risk for nutritional imbalances, anorexia, bulimia, dehydration, and more. As a result, this will allow the nurse to create a proper nursing diagnosis for the patient.
References
Dudek, S. G. (2018). Nutrition essentials for nursing practice (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Toney-Butler, T. J. & Unison-Pace, W. J. (2019, January 19). Nursing admission assessment and examination. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493211/