The nurse is completing a nutrition assessment on a patient. What are some important considerations?

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When collecting data, the nurse should take into consideration the patient's culture and ethnicity. Recognizing these influences on the patient's nutritional intake allows the nurse to make informed decisions. The data analysis may reveal the need to refer the patient to a registered dietitian for further evaluation of nutritional status. The 24-hour recall is dependent on the ability of the patient to remember consumption of foods and their quantities from the previous day. It is vital to remember that the patient's recall may not be factual and the intake may not be that of a typical day. The other means of assessing a patient's usual dietary pattern is to have the patient keep a written journal of food intake for a certain amount of time. The food diary should encompass entries for 3 to 5 days and includes dietary intake for a typical weekend. Anthropometric measurements may be needed for a full assessment.

The Nurse Is Completing a Nutrition Assessment on a Patient