Clinical Nursing: Providing Meals, Nutritional Assessment, and Personal Hygiene Care

Types of diets and breakfast meal examples

Providing meals and assisting to eat:

1.Imagine it is breakfast time in the clinical agency (0800 hours) and you (the nurse) are checking the meal trays to your patients to make sure they have received their correct meals.

For each patient below, define/describe and state the purpose each of the following types of diet with a breakfast meal examples (as applicable):

 

2.What are the main components of a nutritional assessment? Attempt to do an assessment on another person for practice. Use the Dietary/Nutrition assessment tools in your textbook).

3.In addition to the nurse, what other members of the healthcare team would be involved in the collaboration of nutritional care for an individual? What is their role? (try to list at least 2)

4.How do you create an atmosphere to encourage eating/stimulate the appetite (and why is this important)?

5.What things may depress a person’s appetite?

6.Who needs assistance with feeding?

7.Describe how you (nurse) should proceed when providing meals to patients.

8.Define dysphagia. Who is at risk for dysphagia? (consider 4 possible examples)
9.What are aspiration precautions? List key points about these precautions.

10.How do you help with feeding? What should you consider? 

11.What do you monitor during assistance with eating?

12.What should be documented following meals?

Mouth Care/Special Mouth Care 

1.Why should you ask about oral care practices prior to performing oral care?

2.When performing oral care what do you assess? What is considered normal and abnormal?

3.Why is saliva essential? What can happen if saliva is diminished or absent?

4.List at least 5 causes of dry sore mouth. 

5.Check out the Symptom Assessment Tool adapted for dry sore mouth (See Murray p. 161).  

What 3 questions do you think would be more important to ask the client? Why did you chose these three (give rationale for your thinking)

6.Who is at risk for oral hygiene problems?

7.Who needs assistance with oral care?

8.How do you brush teeth and tongue? Do you need to floss?

9.If the client wears dentures, do they still need mouth care? Explain your answer.

10.How do you brush dentures?

11.a) What is Special Oral Care and who needs it?
b)How frequently should special oral care be provided?
c)How should you position the client? Why?

12.What should be documented following mouth care?

Height & Weight

1.Why are patients weighed on admission to hospital or long-term care?
2.Why do we measure height?
3.After admission, when would a weight be taken?
4.What is BMI? Write the formula. Measure your own BMI using the scale in the Lab
5.What is important about BMI?
6.What do you document when recording height and weight?

Skin care and bathing 
1.What common problems are you looking for during skin assessment?
2.Why is skin care important?
3.Define/describe the following:
a.Complete bed bath
b.Self-help bed bath
c.Partial bed bath
d.Bag bath
e.Tub bath
f.Shower
Perineal care 
1.What assessment would you perform before providing peri-care?
2.How do you drape the sheets when performing perineal care and why?
Foot Care 
1.Why do older adult patients require special attention for their feet?
2.How do you assess the feet? Describe
3.What is the preferred position for providing foot care?
4.What health care teaching would you provide regarding foot care?

Continence care: Bedpans and Urinals  
1.What are the different kinds of bedpans?
2.What is a urinal, a commode and a hat?
3.Why do we measure urine?
4.How do you promote complete bladder emptying?

Hair, Eye, and Ear Care 
1.What are some problems associated with hair?
2.How often should you brush a client’s hair? How often should you wash it?
3.What is the preferred method to shave a client? Why?
4.What type of special eye care is needed for unconscious/comatose patients?
5.What considerations are important when handling a hearing aid?
What health teaching is necessary for use of hearing aids?