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I dont understand this question. Ok here it is: A patient is on a sodium restricted diet, what foods should the patient not be eating?

a.canned foods and canned soups

b.fresh meat and fish

c.cookies

d.pasta

I think the answer is canned foods but why would it not be meat if meat has sodium in it? Anyone know this? Couldnt some canned foods contain no added salt?

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Specializes in Maternity, quality.

The first thing to know about these types of questions is, they say what they mean. Don't read more into it. Sure, there are low-sodium canned soups. But they did not state "Low-sodium canned soups" so you can assume that this is the regular old Campbells soup on the shelf, which has lots of sodium.

As for fresh meats and fish, they will naturally contain sodium, but it is not added to fresh foods like it is to canned.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, IM, OB/GYN, neuro, GI.

Canned food has a lot of sodium in it for a preservative. The way I remember this is that I love to drink those little V8 can drinks. One 8 oz can has 380 mg of sodium if you drink the lower sodium ones they still have 170 so it;s not that big of a difference.

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Specializes in NICU.

It's not saying "low-sodium" soups, it just says canned foods/canned soups which have TONS and TONS of sodium, more so than meats.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Gotta go with the canned foods...

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I agree with the others. The average serving of fresh meat has less sodium than the average can of soup. Note that it didn't say "low sodium" canned soup and other foods and it DID say "fresh" meat -- not meat that was preserved by being salted. By adding the word "fresh" to the description of the meat, I think the instructor was trying to be perfectly clear that canned goods were of the typical variety with lots of sodium and the meat was of the fresh variety that was not preserved with salt or other high sodium preservatives.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Lizzy, they must ask every nursing student that same question. It tripped me up at first too until I learned not to read so much into the questions. Good luck!!

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I understand why the answer is canned food but shouldnt the answer be stated Pick the best answer or pick the answer with the most sodium? Why do nursing tests have to trick you so much?!?!

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I understand why the answer is canned food but shouldn't the answer be stated Pick the best answer or pick the answer with the most sodium? Why do nursing tests have to trick you so much?!?!

They are not trying to trick you, they want you to think critically... like a nurse! They don't want you to read to much into it, but they do want you to only pick out and focus on the guts of the questions. They are training your nurse brain to pick out the foods based on medical knowledge that a pt on a low sodium diet would be looking for low sodium foods, so that is what the question is asking for w/o asking specifically. It is definitely not "memorization and regurgitation" anymore! lol;)

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Specializes in NICU.

Because a lot of things in nursing aren't so black and white.

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