Chapter Summary

• Nutrition is the intake of food to meet the body’s needs. Analyzing the quantity of food intake is not sufficient; the food consumed must be nutritional.
• Several noninvasive body measurements are needed for a nutritional assessment: weight, BMI, and WHR.
• Nutrition is vital to health promotion, and nutrition plays a prominent role in Healthy People 2030.
• The nurse is but one member of the interdisciplinary team caring for the client. The team must work together to manage the client’s nutrition.
• Based on the nursing process, the NCJMM incorporates clinical judgment to make decisions required in current nursing practice.
• The USDA and the FDA are the federal agencies that oversee food production, labeling, and consumption. Nonprofit organizations also play an essential role in promoting nutrition.
• Education is an integral part of nutrition-related interventions for clients. The client must be ready to learn, and the nurse must use an individualized approach to teaching. Evaluate the effectiveness of client education by receiving feedback from the client and tracking health outcomes.
• SDOH are nonmedical factors that affect individuals’ health and contribute to food insecurity. The nurse can address food insecurity through client education and referrals to community resources.
• Vulnerable populations are at risk for poor health. Community health needs assessments and community health rankings provide valuable information to address nonmedical factors influencing health.
• EBP is essential to select interventions that can lead to good health outcomes.
• Consumer nutrition information is abundant on the Internet, but not necessarily reliable or accurate.