Clinical Nurtiution health Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Clinical Nurtiution health - Case Study Example In this essay, dietary and nutritional assessment of the patient will be performed and the extent of malnutrition will be ascertained based on the evaluation. Interactions with other health care professionals and strategies to tackle malnutrition will be discussed. Dietary and Nutritional Assessment Dietary assessment has become an integral part of clinical evaluation and nursing assessment. Good nutrition is not only important for preventing disease, but also for comprehensive management of a patient (Beerman, 2009). Anita takes soft white bread and peppermint tea for her breakfast. Peppermint tea actually contributes towards weight loss (Wolinsky, 2010). For lunch she takes white bread, margarine and yogurt, but the yogurt is low-calorie one and will not contribute towards her calorie intake. For dinner, Anita takes mashed potato, baked white fish and baked beans. But she does not always finish her dinner because of her poor appetite, nausea, depression and mouth abscesses. Her eve ning diet consists of semi-skimmed milk, digestive biscuit and some horlicks, which have proteins and carbohydrates, but not to a good extent because in the milk, proteins are removed. From what we can see from Anita's’s 24 hour food recall, the total calorie intake is about 1000 kcal, shortcoming of her requirement. Based on the age, sex, height, weight and lifestyle, the calorie requirement of Anita is 1581 kcal per day. Her basal metabolic rate based on Harris-Benedict formula is 1318 kcal per day. The protein intake is about 20 grams when she needs about 45 grams (ICMR, 2010). Total fat is about 10% and mainly constituting saturated fat. Dietary fiber is only about 10% (when it should be 30%) (ICMR, 2010). Except for some iron and calcium in the breakfast and some vitamins in the snacks, her diet is poor in vitamins and minerals. The diet does not contain fresh fruits or vegetables or starchy staple foods. Nor does the diet contain adequate milk. Clinical Signs of Malnutr ition Anita lost weight from 65 kgs to 49 kgs in just 4 months period. Malnutrition occurs when an individual's diet fails to provide nutrition that is required for growth, health and normal body function (NHS, 2012). Anita did not take diet that was sufficient to maintain health and normal functioning of her body. Malnutrition can affect any system in the body (NHS, 2012). The most significant symptoms of malnutrition are fatigue, weight loss and dizziness (NHS, 2012). Anita lost 6 kgs in 4 months. Anita also has anemia, depression and mouth abscess. One of the leading causes of weight loss in adults is depression. Anitha also has anemia. Her current hemoglobin is 10.4g/dl, much less than the normal range of 12- 14 g/dl. Anemia occurs due to deficiency in iron intake and also due to deficiency in the intake of some vitamins like B12. Another important sign of malnutrition in Anitha is repeated mouth abscesses. Malnutrition can cause depletion of important elements like zinc, calciu m and magnesium which are very important to build a strong immunity (Beerman, 2009). Malnutrition makes the individual vulnerable to infection, causes delay in wound healing, impairs the function of lungs and heart, causes depression and decreases the strength of the muscles (NHS, 2012). Thus, Anita has a mouth abscess healing that with just antibiotics alone is difficult. In general, patients with malnutrition have higher mortality and morbidity