NURS 6540 Week 7 Discussion: Nutrition and Hydration
NURS 6540 Week 7 Discussion: Nutrition and Hydration
Geriatric patients have many nutritional and hydration concerns that impact their health and ability to acquire sufficient nutrients. Advanced practice nurses evaluating these patients must be able to account for all barriers that prevent elders from obtaining adequate nutrition, including medical conditions, transportation, finances, physiologic changes, and functional abilities. When evaluating patients, it is important to consider how they eat, what their diet consists of, and whether they have any special dietary needs that are not being met. Assessment tools, such as the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale, are an integral part of this evaluation process as they help providers identify potential obstacles for patients. In this Discussion, you assess a patient at your current practicum site and consider strategies for improving any nutrition or hydration issues.
To prepare:
Review this week’s media presentation, as well as 29 and 30 of the Resnick text.
Assess a patient using tools for inpatient and long-term patient care, such as the Lawton IADL Scale.
Note: You should coordinate this opportunity with the Preceptor at your practicum site.
Consider whether nutrition and/or hydration might be impacted by the patient’s functional abilities. Reflect on whether the patient is able to go out and get food to eat, cook meals, safely use the stove, etc.
Consider the patient’s diet and whether they have any special dietary needs due to medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, end-stage kidney disease, diabetes, oral health issues, etc. Reflect on whether or not the patient is attempting to compensate for a medical issue and thus creating a deficiency or excess in his or her diet.
Based on your patient assessment, think about strategies for improving any nutrition issues that might have presented (e.g., nutritional supplements, community resources such as Meals on Wheels, referral to a nutritionist or dietician, etc.).
Week 7 Assignment 1: Practicum – Week 7 SOAP Note
Select a geriatric patient that you examined during the last 4 weeks. The patient you select should be currently taking at least five prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs. With this patient in mind, address the following in a SOAP Note:
Subjective: What was the patient’s subjective complaint? What details did the patient provide regarding his or her personal and medical history? Include a list of prescription and over-the-counter drugs the patient is currently taking. Compare this list to the Beers Criteria and consider alternative drugs if appropriate.
Objective: What observations did you make during the physical assessment? What functional assessments were used?
Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses. List them from top priority to least priority.
Plan: What was your plan for diagnostics and primary diagnosis? What was your plan for treatment and management including alternative therapies? What is your care plan for the patient? How would you offer caregiver support?
Reflection notes: What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation? How might you improve your assessment, diagnosis, and/or plan through interprofessional collaboration?
Refer to the Week 3 Learning Resources guidance on writing SOAP Notes.
By Day 7 of Week 7
This Assignment is due. You will submit this Week 7 SOAP Note along with your Journal Entries (from Weeks 5 and 6) by Day 7 of Week 7 (this week).
Note: Be sure to submit your Assignment to the appropriate submission link below.
Submissions should match the following:
Week 7 SOAP Note: Submit to the Week 7 Assignment – Part 1 submission link.
Weeks 5 and 6 Journal Entry: Submit to the Week 7 Assignment – Part 2 submission link.
For the Journal Entries—which are assessed with a Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) score—the numerical grade will show as 0 points and the “S” or “U” will be posted in the Feedback area by your Instructor. These scores of 0 points do not affect your grade; they simply allow for a placeholder to place the “S” or “U” scoring. This concept also applies to Weeks 4 and 10.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
Please save your Assignment using the following naming convention: WK7AssgnPX+lastname+first initial.
Click the Assignment Week 7 – Part X link.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK7AssgnPX+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open. If you are submitting multiple files, repeat until all files are attached.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
