Nursing Commons^™

Implementing A Child Friendly Menu Guide In A Pediatric Unit: Promoting Healthful Choices, Lauren Hull

Dissertations

Problem: Over 1/3 of children in the United States are overweight or obese and children’s nutritional status while hospitalized worsens rather than improves. Hospital meals have too many calories, too much sugar, and too few nutrients compared to recommended guidelines for children. The primary purpose of this quality improvement project is to increase the amount of healthy foods ordered by children in a southeastern pediatric hospital unit through implementation of a menu guide.

Methods: A quality improvement pre-post interventional pilot study was done through implementation of a child friendly menu guide promoting healthful eating. Data was collected by retrospective and …

Nutrition, Appetite And Weight Loss In Elders Living In Long-Term Care Facilities, Karene Marie Goodman

Dissertations

Abstract Elders living in long-term care facilities often experience weight loss. Weight loss in elders has been shown to increase their risk of death. Existing research has identified numerous factors associated with appetite and weight loss in elders. Dementia, depression, acute and chronic illness, and medications have all been identified as potential causes of decreased appetite and weight loss in elders. Only a few nutritional and appetite assessment tools exist, and these tools are not widely used in long-term care facilities. The purpose of this descriptive study was to validate the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ), an appetite assessment tool …