Week 4 Discussion-Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults

NURS 3020 Health Assessment Week 4 Discussion

Week 4 Discussion-Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults

Older adults are the fastest growing age group in North America. This demographic is expected to continue for the next several decades and has demanded increased attention to promoting and supporting their health and well-being.

Nurses must be adept in nutrition assessment and education and guiding older adults in their self-management and care activities. Each nurse needs to understand valid information sources as they relate to patient’s health literacy skills.

Patients over the age of 65 are at an increased risk for lower levels of health literacy. Health literacy is believed to be a stronger predictor of health outcomes than are social and economic status, education, gender, and age.

A nurse must know how to overcome multiple barriers when caring for a patient with low health literacy. Mistrust is one barrier. When the nurse is different from the patient in terms of age, ethnicity, education, and socio-economic status, the patient may have difficulty asking questions or be reluctant to disclose personal information.

To Prepare

Review the Week 4 Discussion Rubric provided in the Course Information area.

Review Chapters 11 and 21 in your course text.

Review the Writing Resources and Program Success Tools.

Review this week’s Writing Resources and Program Success Tools.

Using the Nursing Databases in the Library, seek out a professional article that was published within the past 5 years pertaining to one of the three Discussion options below. Some topics to look for might include:

Nutrition and age groups

Abdominal differences

Reaching a higher level of care

Health promotion and patient centered care

Ethics

Population health

From the article, pick out three important key points or “take-a-ways.” Be sure to cite and reference the professional article selected along with other sources of evidence.

By Day 3

Post a substantive response (at least 350 words) to one of the following options. Be sure to use evidence from the readings and include in-text citations. Utilize essay-level writing practice and skills, including the use of transitional material and organizational frames. Use the writing resources and the Discussion Rubric to develop your post. Week 4 Discussion-Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults

Evidence

In-text citations

Essay-level

Transitional material

Organizational frames

Option One:

In the text, you read about the various types of nutritional assessments that can be utilized during the health history and assessment process. From a professional article you selected, describe one effective nutritional assessment that can be used specifically for an older individual in outpatient care clinics, hospitals, or long-term facilities.

Option Three:

With the rapid population increase of older adults and the surge in online health information, efforts targeted at older adults and their health literacy are both relevant and crucial to promoting and supporting overall health. From the professional article you selected, describe effective nurse strategies aimed to improving the health literacy of this population.

Option Two:

As older adults live longer, they may have more than one chronic disease. Or, they may have a health problem that can lead to another condition or injury if not properly managed. The older adult requires careful nutritional management to ensure proper care and improve or maintain quality of life. From the professional article you selected, describe the unique nutritional needs of this population.

Use the Writing Center to help you cite correctly: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations

Use the Nursing Research Databases in the Library to search for professional articles: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/nursingresearch

Learn how to evaluate resources in the Library: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/evaluating

By Day 7

Read two or more of your colleagues’ postings for the Discussion question.

Respond to at least two of your colleagues in one of the following ways:

Expand upon their Discussion.

Suggest an alternative to their viewpoint.

Ask a clarifying question about a colleague’s proposed technique or strategy.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Provide a Discussion entry on three different days of the week. See the Discussion Rubric for more information.

Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message. Week 4 Discussion-Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults.

NURS 3020 Health Assessment Week 4 Quiz

• Question 1 The nurse is percussing the seventh right intercostal space at the midclavicular line over the liver. Which sound should the nurse expect to hear?

Answers: a. Dullness

b. Tympany

c. Resonance

d. Hyperresonance

document that this patient has:

Answers: a. Aphasia.

b. Dysphasia.

c. Dysphagia.

d. Anorexia.

• Question 2 Which structure is located in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen?

Answers: a. Liver

b. Duodenum

c. Gallbladder

d. Sigmoid colon

• Question 3 A patient is having difficulty swallowing medications and food. The nurse would

• Question 4 The nurse suspects that a patient has a distended bladder. How should the nurse assess for this condition?

Answers: a. Percuss and palpate in the lumbar region.

b. Inspect and palpate in the epigastric region.

c. Auscultate and percuss in the inguinal region.

d. Percuss and palpate the midline area above the suprapubic bone.

• Question 5 The nurse is aware that one change that may occur in the gastrointestinal system of an aging adult is:

Answers: a. Increased salivation.

b. Increased liver size.

c. Increased esophageal emptying.

d. Decreased gastric acid secretion.

• Question 6 A 22-year-old man comes to the clinic for an examination after falling off his motorcycle and landing on his left side on the handle bars. The nurse suspects that he may have injured his spleen. Which of these statements is true regarding assessment of the spleen in this situation?

Answers: a. The spleen can be enlarged as a result of trauma.

b. The spleen is normally felt on routine palpation.

c. If an enlarged spleen is noted, then the nurse should thoroughly palpate to determine its size.

d. An enlarged spleen should not be palpated because it can easily rupture.

• Question 7 A patient’s abdomen is bulging and stretched in appearance. The nurse should describe this finding as:

Answers: a. Obese.

b. Herniated.

c. Scaphoid.

d. Protuberant.

• Question 8 The nurse is describing a scaphoid abdomen. To the horizontal plane, a scaphoid contour of the abdomen depicts a ______ profile.

Answers: a. Flat

b. Convex

c. Bulging

d. Concave

• Question 9 While examining a patient, the nurse observes abdominal pulsations between the xiphoid process and umbilicus. The nurse would suspect that these are:

Answers: a. Pulsations of the renal arteries.

b. Pulsations of the inferior vena cava.

c. Normal abdominal aortic pulsations.

d. Increased peristalsis from a bowel obstruction.

• Question 10 A patient has hypoactive bowel sounds. The nurse knows that a potential cause of hypoactive bowel sounds is:

Answers: a. Diarrhea.

b. Peritonitis.

c. Laxative use.

d. Gastroenteritis.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.