If you’re struggling to figure out answers to your clinical nutrition case study or if you’re having trouble working through patient care in real life, keep reading. These 3 questions are for you.
Clinical Nutrition Case Study: 3 must-ask questions
Clinical nutrition case studies are hard.
They have a lot of moving parts and (if they’re anything like patients you’ll see in the real world), don’t always have obvious answers to simple questions.
If you’re struggling to figure out answers to your clinical case studies or if you’re having trouble working through patient care in real life, keep reading.
You’re going to start with these 3 questions every time you’re handed a new patient.
What are the 3 steps in a nutrition intervention
Before we talk about the 3 questions you’ll use every time you start a new clinical nutrition case study, let’s talk about the standard nutrition intervention format.
You probably already know the 3 steps to use in a nutrition intervention. They look like this:
However I’ve found that taking the words assessment, diagnosis and intervention at face value, can be kind of confusing.
And if you aren’t sure where different patient issues fall into these categories, it’s going to be much harder to work through clinical nutrition case studies.
So you’re going to stop trying to figuring out if what you’re looking at falls into the assessment, diagnosis or intervention category, we’re going to make it much easier.
Instead, you’re going to ask yourself 3 simple questions that will make sure you’re thinking clearly about all the available information you have.
How to do a clinical nutrition case study with 3 question
These are the 3 questions you’ll answer during every clinical nutrition case study you’re given. These are also the same questions you should be asking with any patient you see in the real world.
Here are the 3 questions to ask yourself every time you’re looking at patient in clinical nutrition for the first time:
- What do you know?
- What are you most concerned about?
- What are your next steps?
Each of these questions will focus your attention on what information you have, what is most important and what you’re missing.
If these 3 questions sound a lot like the way you do a nutrition intervention, you’re right.
What do you know is the assessment.
What are you most concerned about is the diagnosis.
And what are your next steps is the intervention.
Thinking about each of the 3 parts of the nutrition intervention this way make it much easier to understand figure out the most acute nutritional issue of your patient.
And from there, understand how you can support them in improving their nutritional health.
The point of doing a clinical nutrition case study
Ultimately your goal is always to answer a single question:
What’s the one thing I can do right now to improve this person’s health as quickly as possible?
The answer to that is your patient’s most acute nutritional issue.
And once you know their most acute nutritional issue, you’ll know how to form your PES statement and what to focus on in your nutrition note or care plan.
So let’s talk specifics.
What do each of these questions mean? And how are you going to use them to determine the most acute nutritional issue as you think through your clinical nutrition case study?
The 3 questions to answer in during a clinical nutrition case study
Question #1: What do you know?
This is the first question you’re going to ask yourself when you’re handed a clinical nutrition case study. But keep in mind, these work for real life patients too.
Write down every piece of information that seems nutritionally relevant. That includes:
Question #2: What are you most concerned about?
This is where you filter that list into the things that impacting your patient’s health status.
Some of the things on this list will be not worry you at all. The lab work might be normal. Your patient’s weight status might be within normal limits. Maybe they have no significant past medical history.
On the other hand, you might be worried about everything on the list. Clinical nutrition case studies can be either overly simple or ridiculously complex.
Whatever stands out to you, highlight it. All of it.
These are the items that will form the basis of your nutrition assessment and intervention.
Question #3: What are your next steps?
There are 2 possible ways the answer to this question can go.
- You have all the information you need.
- You are missing information.
If you have everything you need and you have no more questions, you’re done. Wrap up your clinical nutrition case study by summarizing the important points that you’ve pulled together with questions 1 and 2.
Write you nutrition note and move on.
But if you need to find out more information, it’s time to make a list of what you just learned. Then start reviewing these 3 questions again, from the top.
More information might need to come from a doctor, looking up something new in the medical chart or by asking your patient a direct question.
Each of these sources have the power to dramatically shift the way you support your patient. And if that happens, you want to take the time to revise your nutrition care plan to better meet those new needs.
And That’s It!
Clinical nutrition in the real world, just like clinical nutrition case studies, is all about using all available information to give your patient the best possible chance at positive health outcomes.
To make that happen these are the 3 questions you’re going to ask yourself. On repeat. Until you are confident of you can help them get discharged as quickly as possible.
Feel like this was cool, but you’ve got specific questions? I got you.
Clinical Text Support is your chance to ask every question you have, as they come up in real time. Maybe it’s working through a crazy case study. It could also be real patients you’re assigned in your clinical rotations. In Clinical Text Support, you get immediate answers to the questions you might not want to ask a preceptor or teacher.
Need even more? I hear you.
Clinical Bootcamp is everything you need to do clinical nutrition in the real world. It’s exactly the clinical nutrition course you thought you’d get in school, but never did. After Bootcamp, you’ll know how to not only work through every patient care situation — but you’ll be doing it confidently. Every time.
Want even more to help in clinical?
Check out The Nutrition Cheat Sheets Shop for all the nutrition education and clinical resources that will make your life easier.
