Integrating Nutrition Care Process Text into curriculum: Tips from Fontbonne
August 12, 2016 Classes early in the MNT curriculum may only use selected nutrition assessment activities from a case, while more advanced classes may use different cases and different activities from other steps in the nutrition care process. Since Mr. Robertson is used in three pr
ogressive cases it allows students to easily progress without repeating all the basic nutrition assessment activities in each case.For example, in the fall when students were entering into MNT 1, they were assigned the Case 1, Mr. Robertson, Adult Weight Management. During class they were asked to read the "Story" and pull out the significant data and write it in the nutrition assessment categories shown on the page. This took 30+ minutes as they worked together to process the information provided. Student were then asked to complete and turn in the following activities:
1.1 Apportioning Recopies
1.2 Nutritional Analysis (using Exchange system)
1.3 Evaluating Food Servings
1.4 Comparing to Dietary Guidelines
However the instructor opted to provide the answers to the next three activities since the students had already learned how to calculate BMI and plot body weights (Activity 1.5), determine energy requirements (Activity 1.6), and estimate impact of physical activity (Activity 1.7).
The instructor asked them to each complete and turn in the Activity 1.8, Assessing Knowledge, Beliefs and Attitudes and Activity 1.9, Summarizing Nutrition Assessment.
Next the students were assigned to independently work through the Activity 1.10 to identify potential nutrition diagnoses and select the most important ones. The instructor asked the student to formally turn in the Activity 1.11, Developing PES statements . These were discussed in the class setting by sharing the PES statements as a group and identifying strengths and weaknesses of the various PES statements developed.
When they m
ove on to the next cases Hypertension, Type 2 DM and Malnutrition/Oncology, the instructor can easily now just discuss the changes in all the original nutrition assessment data and move more quickly into working on evaluating progress toward resolving the previous nutrition diagnoses, formulating a new PES statement to reflect Mr. Robertson's current condition and focus on other activities in other steps of the nutrition care process. For example in the spring when they were enrolled in MNT 2, and were covering Diabetes, the instructor opted to assign Activity 3.6, Estimating carbohydrate distribution and Type (menu/meal planning) , 3.9, Assessing Knowledge, Beliefs and Attitudes and 3.11, Evaluating Existing Nutrition Diagnosis. And in the Oncology/Malnutrition case, Activity 4.8, Summarizing Nutrition Assessment, 4.12,Formulating a Nutrition Prescription and Aims and 4.16, Creating a Plan for Monitoring and Evaluating were assigned.
Since the student is familiar with "Mr. Robertson" through the various cases, they are free to focus on the specific activity rather than "learning an whole new case". It also gives them experience with monitoring and evaluating and seeing how the dietitian develops an ongoing relationship with a patient. The book and activities are available for students to review if they need to see the steps that they would complete in-between, but the instructor can select the activities that they want to emphasize and not have them complete activities that they have already mastered or achieved the desired level of competence.
Acknowledgement: Information provided by Jaimette McCulley, Fontbonne University, St Louis, MO