Nurses are expert and responsible for assuring that patients meet nutritional needs. Giving nutrition screening and proper nutrition advice is essential for better healthy eating. Non-communicable disease is often linked to modifiable risk factors.
The primary duty of any nurse is to take care of the patient diet and check if they are consuming the required amount of nutrients daily. Most often, nurses who enter as an intern will have these responsibilities. They would be allotted assignments on creating diet plans for patients.
Well, most find difficulty while preparing an assignment as they are fresher. So they seek help from nursing assignment help. They are experts that help you to complete an assignment on time with better-researched quality content.
The role of primary and secondary survey in nutrition planning
If you think diet charts can be created only by research and experience you are wrong. Primary and secondary surveys help nurses to check the patient and ensure that immediate first aid is provided when needed. Primary surveys are conducted when the patient is first brought under the care of the nursing profession. Secondary surveys are conducted later once the basic aid and medical help has been provided to the patient. It helps to diagnose the patients and define their physical condition before creating diet plans.
Nutrition plans are usually prepared as part of the secondary survey. There are four main factors that nurses look at when developing a diet plan for the patients are- unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, excess of tobacco consumption, and lifestyle choices. In fact, alcohol consumption causes brain damage as said by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in 2013 and the World Health Organization in 2003.
How has population affected nutrition?
The world’s population is increasing, the ratio of people aged over 60 years is growing faster than other age groups. It will double by 2050 the result will raise from 605 million to 2 billion said to the World Health Organization in 2016. This will be combined by a quadrupling of the ratio of people aged 80 and over by 2050.
Healthy diet and healthy lifestyle choices is the need of the hour. And as nursing students and professionals, it is essential that you focus on developing diet plans that actually aid the diagnosis and treatments of the patients.
So a healthy diet is essential for patients. While preparing diet charts for patients ensure you follow the below steps:
1. Determine the number of calories required
Patients daily calorie consumption depends on their age, sex, weight, height, and physical activity level. The more active patients are the more calories they need to balance the current weight.
Experts recommend 1,600 to 3,200 calories per day for adults. On average most patients need about 2,000 calories. Activity level has a high impact on the number of calories patients consume. Males can undoubtedly consume more without gaining weight.
2. Break down a healthy diet
The best diet needs a diverse variety and balance. Choosing how many proteins, fruits, veggies, grains, and carbs is essential to process while planning a diet chart.
A good nutritional plan needs to include protein-rich items like beans, eggs, fish, meats, milk, nuts, and soya that help improve better health. 10-36% of protein needed for a human equal to 200-700 calories from protein.
Fruits have the right amount of vitamins and antioxidants. They are fat-free and reduce the risk of multiple health issues. It is also essential to have a balanced diet. Include at least 2 cups of fruits per day in the diet plan.
Veggies contain vitamins, potassium, a fiber that has excellent health benefits. So include them in diet plans 1-2 cups are sufficient per day to meet nutritional benefits.
Include whole grains like oatmeal and brown rice in the diet plan. Avoid processed carbs like white bread and products with added sugar.
You can add fat-free dairy products to the diet chart to meet daily needs. Having a cup of calcium-rich options like milk, cheese, or lactose-free dairy is also a great option.
3. Include natural fats in the diet
Fats are often called a bad one as it is linked with actual body fat. There are good fats essential for a body’s functioning, like balancing body temperature and battling fatigue. Depending on weight, fats should be 30% or less of your diet. Understanding which fats are best for patients can help to create a successful diet.
- Good fats in the diet have good sources like sesame, olive, soya beans, and nuts. You should also include omega-3 fatty acids from fish like salmon, tuna, and bluefish.
- Bad fats are trans and saturated fats. This fat can cause cardiovascular disease and diabetes. These fats are often in processed oil form or solid at room temperatures like red meat fat and butter.
4. Do not add sugar to the diet.
Including too much sugar and salt causes stress on the heart and increases blood pressure, heart disease, or stroke. So sodium must be limited to 2,300mg or less per day. Some of the sodium-rich foods are Pizza, soups, taco mixes, and salad dressing.
5. Ensure to revise diet plan
Make small changes in diet and try new ones. Define what is working best for patients and what isn’t. Make minute modifications to fill the stomach. Check out the food gallery for the best options it may sharpen your appetite. Review diet plans every month and make necessary changes.
Here are healthy diet charts for Adults with 2320Kcals:
| Food groups | g/Portions |
| Cereals and millets | 30 |
| pulses | 30 |
| Milk and milk products | 100ml |
| Routes and tubers | 100 |
| Green leafy vegetables | 100 |
| Other vegetables | 100 |
| Fruits | 100 |
| Sugar | 5 |
| Oils and fats | 5 |
Diet charts look informative and attractive if they are represented in the form of posters. Nurses take this responsibility and produce great posters for people. So most medical colleges and universities have made nursing poster presentations a mandatory section of any nursing curriculum. It enables students to showcase their research in a visually attractive way. But designing a poster from scratch can be challenging for freshers.
So here are a few tips you can follow while creating a poster presentation:
- Make posters attractive and informative as much as possible. You can explore your creativity here.
- You can make use of charts, bar graphs, related studies from good sources. These showcase your research ability. Infographics help you to get to the point quickly.
- You can not blindly depend on visuals; you also have to add specific content to your poster. The way you present and what you present the information is essential to the poster. Think about the reader’s point of view before designing a poster. Never blindly create content and add your input.
- Ensure you include hypotheses, abstract, and problem statements like how you add in a research paper. These factors define your approach and eventual conclusion.
Conclusion
It is vital to make better food choices to stay healthy. Eat seasonally, eat local, and select a variety of foods. Mixing this with the right meal timings and regular exercise is a formula for better health. I hope these tips are helpful.
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