Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017) - Adult Health and Nutritional Assessment Related

Review Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017) - Adult Health and Nutritional Assessment related questions and content

You are performing a dietary assessment with a patient who has been admitted to the medical unit with community-acquired pneumonia. Your patient wants to know why the hospital needs all this information about the way he eats, asking you, Are you asking me all these questions because I am Middle Eastern? What is your best response to this patient?

  • A. We always try to abide by foreign-born patients dietary preferences in order to make them comfortable.
  • B. We know that some cultural and religious practices include dietary guidelines, and we do not want to violate these.
  • C. We would not want to feed you anything you only eat on certain holidays.
  • D. We know that patients who grew up in other countries often have unusual diets, and we want to accommodate this.
Correct Answer: B

Rationale: Culture and religious practices together often determine whether certain foods are prohibited and whether certain foods and spices are eaten on certain holidays or at specific family gatherings. A specific focus on foods eaten only on holidays is too narrow and does not convey the overall intent of the dietary interview. Dietary planning addresses all patients' needs, not only those who are foreign-born. It is inappropriate to characterize a patient's diet as unusual.