Clinical Nutritional Assessment

Unit 4 Assignment

Unit outcomes addressed in this assignment:

 Identify the basic parameters of a clinical nutrition assessment.

Course outcome assessed/addressed in this assignment:

NS420-3: Analyze the data gathered during nutritional counseling

Instructions

Imagine yourself in the role of a Nutrition Counselor and Josephine in your client. Josephine

is a 20-year-old female who is present for an eating disorder not otherwise specified. She

currently teaches salsa lessons at the community college and is in her last semester of

college. She reports she is living at home and the food her mom prepares is not the

healthiest because her mom is from Honduras and her father is from Guatemala, so the

food is prepared differently.

She indicates she has been thin all her life, although she has struggled to maintain her

weight since going through puberty. and Since she is a salsa instructor, she has to remain

fit. She reports she feels very guilty if she has consumed fried foods during the day, but

since that is the way her mom primarily cooks, she feels awful to tell her mom to stop

cooking that way. She reports if she does consume too much fried foods or junk food, she

will run at least 2-3 miles that day or else force herself to vomit, but all the food does not

come out. She reports sometimes if she has a later class, she will not eat dinner or only eat

1 meal per day. She has tried counting calories, but then she gets so mad at herself for

having more than 1200 calories it causes her to exercise more, which then leads her to

feeling exhausted.

She indicates she is on no medication, but does take a multivitamin when she remembers.

She indicates she has gone from 110 pounds to 125 pounds over 5 years and wants to be

back down to 110 or even less. She also had gone to the doctor and he was quite concerned

with her lab values. She has provided you a 24 hour meal record:

Breakfast:

1-6” corn tortilla

½ cup fried beans cooked with peppers, onions and oil

½ cup rice

1 cup no sugar added orange juice

Lunch:

1 slice of whole wheat bread

2 slices turkey

1 small apple

Dinner:

2- 6” tortillas

Beef with onions, peppers cooked in oil

Tomato, onion, pepper salad (made with oil and lime juice)

2 cups of rice

Height: 5’2” Weight: 117 pounds (based on your scale in the office)

Labs:

Test Result Reference Units

Albumin (visceral protein stores) 3.3 g/dL 3.5-4.8 g/dL

Sodium 133 mEq/L 136-145 mEq/L

Potassium 3.8 mEq/L 3.5-5.2 mEq/L

Iron 0.4 mg/dL 0.6-1.1 mg/dL

Vitamin B12 185 pg/mL 200-835 pg/mL

Questions for Unit 4:

1. Based on her height and weight, what is her BMI (Body Mass Index)? Is this

considered underweight, normal or overweight/obese?

2. What lab values are elevated or decreased? What are some nutrition specific

reasons for these high or low values?

3. Based on her above food record, identify at least three areas that need

improvement. What nutrition recommendations would you provide to see

improvement?

4. Provide at least three specific goals you would want to establish with this client.

When writing goals to ensure we can see a good outcome, remember to be positive

and specific. For example, do not write “She will eat consistently”--rather write “She

is going to eat 3 meals per day at consistent times (7:30am, 1:30pm, and 7pm).”

Requirements

 This assignment needs to be at least two pages in length and include at least two

references.

 This Assignment should be in APA format and follow the conventions of Standard

American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.). Your writing should be well

ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful. Your work should

display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics. Be sure to use APA in-

text citations and a reference page to attribute each source.

Please be sure to download the file “Writing Center Resources” from Doc Sharing to assist

you with meeting APA expectations for written assignments.

Submitting Your Work

Put your responses in a Microsoft® Word® document. Save it in a location and with the

proper naming convention: username-CourseName-section-Unit 1_Assignment.doc

(username is your Kaplan username, section is your course section, 1 is your Unit number).

When you are ready to submit it, go to the Dropbox and complete the steps below:

1. Click the link that says “Submit an Assignment.”

2. In the “Submit to Basket” menu, select Unit 1: Assignment.

3. In the “Comments” field, make sure to add at least the title of your paper.

4. Click the “Add Attachments” button.

5. Follow the steps listed to attach your Word document.

To view your graded work, come back to the Dropbox or go to the Gradebook after your

instructor has evaluated it. Make sure that you save a copy of your submitted project.

Unit 4 Assignment Grading Rubric = 130 points

Assignment Requirements Points

possible

Points

earned by

student

Discuss the BMI and appropriate category

0-10

Discuss lab values and nutrition reasons for abnormal

values.

0-40

Identify at least three areas of her food record that need

improvement.

0-40

Write at least three specific and positive goals.

0-40

Total (Sum of all points)

Points deducted for spelling, grammar, and/or APA

errors.

Adjusted total points

Instructor Feedback: