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Topic 2-5
Diet Therapy

Food is essential to life. To sustain life, the nutrients in food must perform three functions within the body: build tissue, regulate metabolic processes, and provide a source of energy. A proper diet is essential to good health. A well-nourished person is more likely to be well developed, mentally and physically alert, and better able to resist infectious diseases than one who is not well nourished. Proper diet creates a healthier person and extends the years of normal bodily functions. Diet therapy is the application of nutritional science to promote human health and treat disease.

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• Cite from a list six factors which influence eating patterns.
• Identify factors, which may alter a hospitalized patient's eating patterns.
• Identify factors, which may alter a patient's food intake due to illness.
• Identify reasons that hospitalized patients are at risk of being malnourished.
• Identify nursing interventions, which may help, the patient meets his or her nutritional needs.
• Identify the responsibilities of the practical nurse in relation to diet therapy.
• Identify six reasons for therapeutic diets.
• Cite a specialized diet when given a description of the diet contents.
• Identify nursing interventions, which may prepare the patient for meals.

Select a Lesson:

	Factors Which Influence Eating Patterns
	Religion and Eating Patterns
	Eating Patterns of the Vegetarian
	Factors Which Alter a Hospitalized Patient's Eating Patterns
	Nursing Interventions Which Help the Patient Meet Nutritional Needs
	Reasons for Therapeutic Diets
	Standard Hospital Diets
	Preparing the Patient for Meals

Helping patients meet their nutritional needs is a challenging task for a nurse. Ordering the tray and delivering it to the patient's bedside is not enough. You must see that he eats the food needed to meet his body requirements. Provide the patient with assistance to complete selective menus that meet his food preferences as much as possible. See to his comfort at mealtime. Without proper nutrition, the healing process slows down and the patient's condition does not improve as quickly as it should. You should always remember that the dietitians and hospital food service specialist  of the hospital's Nutrition Care Division are available to you as experts in all aspects of patient nutrition care. Ask for their advice or intervention when you believe a patient's condition requires it.

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