Should I learn nutrition?

Nursing Students General Students

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My main major is nurse practitioner, but not 100% sure! I want to become something where I can help people with diet too. You think nurses can do that too? Like suggesting someone to eat this because it contains a lot of minerals and vitamin... etc.

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Nutritional counseling is part of nursing. Some nursing programs require a separate course in nutrition and some even have a therapeutic nutrition course requirement.

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We do take nutrition as one of the courses, but as a nurse it isn't your duty to give advice & prescribe the diet. I would say nutrition is very important for pt education and to help them understand. You could be interested in a career in dietary?

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My program requires a nutrition course. I think it was a great course. It's also a course that not only you can use in your career, you can also use it in your life.

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Specializes in Emergency.

As someone who originally went to school & got a bachelor's in dietetics and then went back and did nursing; I'm very wary of letting nurses take the reins on nutrition education.

Telling a pt what kinds of foods are high in protein/emphasizing protein foods when they're holding on to fluid & becoming a human balloon? Sure. Talking about vitamin K when someone is on coumadin or talking about high sodium vs. low sodium foods? Go for it.

Beyond basic things like that, unless you specifically have the knowledge needed to be a nutrition educator, I say leave it alone. Let the experts do their job. And considering that recommendations are always changing, it has been my experience that most RNs are not up to date with them.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Many schools of nursing will mandate that you take and pass a nutrition class before they will even admit you. Nutrition is a very common prerequisite class.

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Take it! I don't believe it's a class you will regret taking. As a matter of fact, I think it can be helpful in every aspect of the nursing process.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

It is a prereq for my nursing program and I enjoyed the content. I got a lot out of it, definitely was not an easy A class. Not only will it help you in nursing practice, but it will help you to make better nutritional choices in your personal life which I think is priceless :)

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