Nutritional Assessment and Oral Diets Overview

Sep 3, 2024

Lecture Notes: Nutritional Assessment and Oral Diets

Overview

  • Presenter: Kathy from Level Up RN
  • Topics:
    • Nutritional assessment of patients
    • Types of oral diets
    • Quiz to test understanding
    • Use of Level Up RN flashcards

Nutritional Assessment

Key Components

  • Obtain patient's height and weight
    • Investigate recent weight gain/loss
    • BMI (Body Mass Index) is often calculated automatically in health records
  • Assess difficulty with chewing/swallowing
    • Swallowing assessment using water sip test
    • If swallowing issues, patient should be kept NPO (nothing by mouth)
    • Comprehensive swallow evaluation by a speech-language pathologist
    • Keep NPO if patient has known swallowing issues or aspiration pneumonia

Additional Considerations

  • Food allergies and dietary restrictions
  • Religious or cultural dietary preferences

Key Lab Results

  • Prealbumin Levels: 15-36 mg/dL
    • Decrease indicates potential malnutrition
  • Albumin Levels: 3.5-5 g/dL
    • Decrease may indicate malnutrition or conditions like liver/kidney disease

Signs of Malnutrition

  • Dry brittle hair
  • Dry scaly skin
  • Poor wound healing
  • Muscle wasting
  • Lethargy and weakness
  • Action: Consult with a dietitian/nutritionist if concerns arise

Special Needs

  • Patients with acute illness and wounds require extra protein and calories

Types of Oral Diets

Dietary Progression

  • NPO (Nothing by Mouth)
  • Clear Liquid Diet:
    • Ice chips, water, clear soda, jello, coffee, tea, clear broth
  • Full Liquid Diet:
    • Includes all clear liquids plus milk, orange juice, soup
  • Pureed Diet:
    • Smooth consistency foods (e.g., mashed potatoes, pureed meat, pudding)
  • Soft Diet:
    • Soft, low-fiber, easy to digest (e.g., low-fat dairy, eggs, cooked vegetables)
  • Dysphagia Diet:
    • Includes thickened liquids and moist soft/pureed foods
  • Regular Diet:
    • No dietary restrictions

Quiz Questions

  1. Interdisciplinary Team Member for Swallow Evaluation: Speech-language pathologist
  2. Significance of Decreased Prealbumin Level: Indicative of potential malnutrition
  3. Meaning of NPO: Nothing by mouth
  4. Dysphagia Diet: Includes thickened liquids and moist soft foods

Conclusion

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