NR 228 Week 4 Discussion Question: Bone Health
NR228 Week 4 Discussion Question: Bone Health
Bone Health
NR 228 Week 4 Discussion Question: Bone
... [Show More] Health.
Mrs. Law, a 77-year-old female, is at home recovering from surgery that she had after falling and breaking her hip 5 days ago. She lives with her husband, Dean, who helps to care for her. Mrs. Law is a former smoker and has a past medical history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. You are the visiting nurse, assigned to check on her postoperative progress. You ask the client how she is feeling, do an assessment, and inquire as to what she has eaten over the past 24 hours. Mrs. Law states that she has “No pep, no appetite, has been taking her pain medication as prescribed (every 4 hours—but not real helpful!), cannot sleep well, doesn’t feel much like walking, except for to the bathroom, and has been unable to move her bowels for several days.”
Breakfast: Two glazed doughnuts, coffee (black)
Lunch: Tossed salad with oil and vinegar, diet soda
Dinner: Tomato soup, 1 cup; four soda crackers; and red homemade wine
Snack: Pretzels, diet soda
What nutrients that contribute to bone health are missing in Mrs. Law’s diet? What other dietary concerns do you have? Is Mrs. Law getting the appropriate amount of vitamins and minerals for her age and current condition? Why or why not?
Answer
Vitamins and minerals are very important for bone health. Vitamin D, K, and A are the vitamins that need to be in the diet for proper bone health and growth. Vitamin D helps with bone mineralization, Vitamin K helps with protein formation and bone mineralization, and Vitamin A helps with bone growth. Minerals that are important to bone health are calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and fluoride. They all play a role in bone and tooth formation, as well as the stability and structure of bones (Dorner, Escott-Stump, & Grodner, 2016).
I think that Mrs. Law needs be educated on the importance of a healthy, well rounded diet- because the foods she consumes can affect her bones. She needs to be eating plenty of fish, dairy, fruits, and vegetables, and if she isn’t - she needs to try supplementing with a multivitamin. She also needs to understand that if she eats high sodium meals, the sodium can actually cause her body to lose calcium, which further leads to bone loss. Also, Mrs. Law seems to enjoy coffee and soda, these drinks can also decrease calcium absorption and lead to bone loss (Food and your bones, 2016). She doesn’t need to cut these completely out of her diet, but she definitely needs to limit them.
According to ChooseMyPlate (2016), older adults need to be consuming at least 3 cups of fat-free milk throughout the day. Mrs. Law is not drinking any milk. If she doesn’t like milk, she can try to consume small amounts of yogurt or cheese throughout the day. Adding fruits and veggies as snacks throughout the day will also be beneficial for her bone health. Once Mrs. Law is recovered from her broken hip, she needs to start some sort of physical therapy or excrete to strengthen the muscles around her bones. Just walking 10 minutes a day can help improve her strength and balance, to hopefully above any future falls (MyPlate, 2016).
Dorner, S., Escott-Stump, S., & Grodner, M. (2016). Nutritional foundations and clinical
applications: a nursing approach (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Food and your bones. (2016). Retrieved from National Osteoporosis Foundation
website: https://www.nof.org/patients/treatment/nutrition/
Grodner, M., Roth, S. L.,& Walkingshaw, B. C. (2012). Nutritional foundations and
clinical applications: A nursing approach (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier
Mosby.
My plate. (2016). Retrieved from United States Department of Agriculture Choose My
Plate website: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/MyPlate
Phillips, F. (2004). Diet and bone health. Nutrition Bulletin, 29(2), 99-110.
Response:
I agree with you. In order to protect bones from osteoporosis, a healthy balanced diet needs to consume along with exercise throughout life. We need sufficient calcium and vitamin D for strengthening bones and to help our body absorb calcium (Grodner, Roth, & Walkingshaw, 2012). By looking at the daily dietary intake pattern, Mrs. Law is missing many healthy nutrients including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to recover from her illness and to maintain her daily optimal health. The good sources of calcium include milk, cheese, yogurt, green leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish (Wallace, Boxall, & Riddick, 2004). The good sources of vitamin D are sun, fish, fortified breakfast cereals, eggs, and so on. Mrs. Law needs to consider taking daily vitamins supplements along with healthier diet choices. Lifestyle changes in diet and exercise are important for her health because if continues to consume same food regularly, she might end-up getting more diseases and illnesses.
Grodner, M., Roth, S. L.,& Walkingshaw, B. C. (2012). Nutritional foundations and
clinical applications: A nursing approach (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier
Mosby.
Wallace, L., Boxall, M., & Riddick, N. (2004). Influencing exercise and diet to prevent
osteoporosis: lessons from three studies. British Journal Of Community
Nursing, 9(3), 102-109. [Show Less]