Care plan help altered nutrition..

angelica280 · Mar 22, 2009

Providing oral care is not really addressing the nutrition problem.... is a good intervention to prevent ventilator acquired pneumonia and to provide comfort but that is not your problem right now... Focus on nutrition... you have assess intake and output (watch for oliguria), administered vitamins or supplemts as per doctors orders, do daily weights (are there any drastic-sudden changes in weight)... do frequent smalls meals ... does a referral to a dentist for a bridge or a denture apply? ... include family members in plan of care (pt has dementia so help is needed with feedings).... Think What can you do to improve the nutrintional status.... Hope it helps :)

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2009

Altered nutrition: less than body requirements is not eating enough food. If the person has no bottom teeth then they have difficulty chewing food (hard to chew chunks of food without a matching set of opposing teeth). Look up the word "dementia" and see what it means. That will lead you to some more ideas of what you might need to do to make sure this patient sits down and gets to the right place at the right time to eat.

debfay · Mar 24, 2009

1) Soft or pureed diet

2) Nutritional supplement, such as Ensure

3) Dental referral (dentures or partial plates)

4) Monitor nutritional status and weight

5) Record food intake and I & O's.

6) Assist with meals (amount of assistance needed would be dependent on the level of dementia)

Shirdent · Sep 17, 2009

People with dementia are often neophobic. So depending on the stage you're dealing with a power tooth brush may be in order. If they're too far along they won't stand for the vibration.

Use a paste that tastes good, or has very little flavor.

Use a brush with bristles that won't fall out easily.

Use xylitol as often as possible, topically in toothpaste or even as candy (providing aspiration isn't a potential issue)

When using xylitol be aware that some GI issues may turn up, so dosage is an issue as is the need for laxatives.

Shirley Gutkowski