logo hmc Registered Dietitian Newsletter
RD Poll
Please visit the  Poll this week, your answers are needed to assess the readiness to implement NCP.
 
Thank you very much.
 
Last Week Poll Results
 One of our dietitians writes, "Thanks for the info and practice tips on MVM --- I've been checking this at every facility this week." 
Everyone knew that taking a multivitamin/mineral pill may prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The correct answer to #2 seems a little more elusive. MVMs can be effective in filling intake gaps of older adults for "Vitamin B6, A and C" is the correct answer --- only 67% had that one right.  This is an important concept, and the article had a few surprises --- do not miss it. Here is the link to Multivitamin & Minerals  article on the HMC Staff Site.
 
Quick Links:
 
 
 
 
ServSafe Classes
 ss
It's time to sign up for this summer 's ServSafe Classes in San Jose and Vallejo. 
 
Classes will be filled on a first come (sign up), first serve basis. 
 
Sign up SOON and get a Discount!!! 
 
 Click here   for current flyer  
 
Please share ServSafe information with your Dietary Department ;
  • print out copy of pdf from HMC Site

or

  • direct them to the HMC public website  'current news' page (simply click the link, and forward the page to them via email)

Thank You Very Much! 

Issue: 21 June 17, 2009
Greetings! 
 
Thank you once again for opening your issue of the RDNewsletter.  In this issue you will read about the Nutritional Care Process. We need your input on the poll this week, please take a moment to answer the brief questions. 
 
In an effort to keep our email lists up to date and accurate, may I ask you to click 'confirm' in the text above the newsletter this week? Thank you very much. 
 
Pati
In The News
TO DIAGNOSE OR NOT TO DIAGNOSE... That is the Question this week.  
Nutrition Care Process (NCP) was started in the 1990's by the ADA to show the value of nutrition services, guide outcome research and standardize the vocabulary that dietitians write in medical records.  Over the past few years research and validation has been conducted. NCP has been integrated into internships and is part of the RD Exam.
 
Once the nutritional assessment is completed, writing a Sam DON promo"Nutrition Diagnosis" is the next step.  Actually, RD's have been using this critical thinking skill all along. What has changed is the method for organizing our documentation into a standardized and concise diagnosis statement. The PES format stands for these parts of the diagnosis: Problem, Etiology and Signs/symptoms. The next steps in NCP are the "Nutrition Intervention" and "Monitoring and Evaluation."
 
The goal of our dietetics profession is to integrate the NCP into practice settings of all RD's by 2012.  Some of our HMC clients in corporate or state institution settings are already using NCP --- and the results are favorable. The HMC management team has discussed how we might adopt and utilize the NCP alongside our practice and forms for nutritional assessment. To help us plan for this transition, please click on the RD Poll and provide your answers.  
RD Tip
 
nutritional care elderlyArticle of Interest
Again this week we are featuring a great article from a recent issue of The Consultant Dietitian newsletter. Click "The Nutrition Care Process Simplified for LTC" and read the article by Linda Roberts, MS, RD, LDN. 
 Dear Dietitians:
The management team of HMC is committed to remaining on the cutting edge of the practice of dietetics in long term care.  I had the pleasure to audit dietitians using the NCP in a large state institution. I believe NCP is something the dietitians at HMC can do in our practice settings.  Using NCP allows our notes to be focused, more concise and directed to the areas where our interventions or recommendations make a difference --- the provision of food and education that we can implement independently.  NCP will empower dietitians to practice at a higher level while standardizing the language we utilize.  
 
I can imagine that NCP (and the word diagnosis) are a little scary to some of our HMC staff dietitians.  This is just one more evolution in the practice of dietetics. You may be interested to note that when I graduated from Loma Linda University in the late 1970's the term "nutritional assessment" had not yet been used!  Now it is practically all that we do! (Our dietetics training then was for diet history and diet education.)  Later, about 1988, the MDS was introduced followed by the RAP's.  And now, I think we are ready for the Nutrition Care Process.
 
Please complete the RD Poll this week --- we need to assess  readiness to implement NCP for all HMC dietitians. 
 
Have a great week. Lee  
 
 

Lee Tincher, MS, RD 
President
HM Composite, Inc.