Nursing Conduct for Malnourished Patients: A Christian Perspective

This essay examines nursing conduct for malnourished patients, focusing on the multifaceted challenges they face. It explores medical, mental, and economic factors contributing to malnutrition, including diseases, mental health conditions, and the impact of poverty and fast food culture. The essay provides a Christian nurse's perspective, emphasizing compassion, respect, and adherence to ethical guidelines, as outlined by the American Nurses Association. It highlights the importance of understanding patients' emotional, social, and spiritual needs, advocating for a holistic approach to care. The essay concludes by reinforcing the nurse's duty to provide patient-centered care with faith, tolerance, and a non-judgmental attitude, aligning with the core values of Christian nursing.

Running head: NURSING CONDUCT FOR MALNOURISHED PATIENTS
Nursing conduct for Malnourished Patients
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Executive Summary:
A Christian nurse has many duties when it comes to treating ailing patients in the hospital
or otherwise. The current problem of global malnutrition has already started knocking the doors
of the hospital. The duty of a faithful Christian nurse is to not only assess the physical healing of
an ailing person, but also incorporate compassion, sympathy and non-judgmental assessment.
Faith is a powerful entity that can help heal patient physically and mentally and rid the body
from any such troubles. The paper aims to analyze the problem of clinical malnutrition from a
perspective of a Christian nurse.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................3
Medical Issues:............................................................................................................................3
Mental Issues:..............................................................................................................................4
Economical issues:.......................................................................................................................4
Effect of fast food chains:............................................................................................................4
Christian Nurse Perspective:........................................................................................................5
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6

3NURSING CONDUCT FOR MALNOURISHED PATIENTS
Introduction:
Malnutrition is a common problem in the United States as a part of their annual
hospitalization cases. According to a report provided by the news published in World Hunger
News, about 5% of the United States household suffered from food insecurity as of 2015 (United
States Hunger Facts, Poverty Facts 2016 - World Hunger News, 2016). The report showed that
the general nutritional intake of the family members reduced from the normal daily requirement
and the normal eating habits were altered due to limited resource availability. The other factors
that affect nutrition in a country are poor sanitation habits that lead to increased rates of
infectious diseases, poverty as well body image issues, mainly among teenager and young adults
(Demissie & Worku, 2013). This paper aims to assess the problems that lead to the development
of malnutrition among hospital patients, how it affects their health and what measures can be
undertaken to heal them as a Christian nurse.
Discussion:
Medical Issues:
Various diseases and health conditions leads to the development of loss of appetite
leading to a more complex problem of malnutrition. Liver malfunctions, cancer development,
diarrhea and ulcers make a patient incapable of consuming food and prolonged emphasis lead to
malnutrition. Crohn’s diseases is also a known condition where the body’s ability to digest food
is completely disrupted, causing no absorption of nutrition from the food ingestion (Lonterman-
Monasch et al., 2013).

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Mental Issues:
There are various mental conditions that might affect the appetite of a person, like stress
and depression. Patients with known history of dementia, schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa also
lead to malnutrition (Huang et al., 2013). Teenagers and young adults under the influence of non-
believers succumb to a notion of having a stick thin body, for which they tend to starve
themselves for prolonged period of time (Dunn & Bratman, 2016). This makes them weak,
undernourished and susceptible to diseases.
Economical issues:
Economic stability is very important in a country. It ensures the well being and overall
health of the society. People with low income face the problem of malnutrition, as they fail to
meet the living expenditure in first world country standard of living (Hardoy, Mitlin &
Satterthwaite, 2013). These low income families rely on the light snacking habits which is low in
nutrition which creates a chronic deficit they cannot meet.
Effect of fast food chains:
The rapid growing culture of fast food dining is cutting lack in the daily nutrition intake
suggested by the Food and Drug Administration of US. The lifestyle of the late millennial age
has made the working class dependant on the availability of fast food instead of homemade
nutritious food (De Vogli, Kouvonen & Gimeno, 2014). These fast food variants are not rich in
vitamins and daily balanced diet requirements, and lead to malnutrition most among the
population of the age 16-40 years of age.

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Christian Nurse Perspective:
Analysis of a patient’s condition is done by dividing the problem with five different
entities of assessment. According to the Provision 1 of Code of Ethics in Clinical Practice, “The
nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes
of every person”. A Christian nurse recognizes the parameters of mortal existence: material,
spiritual, logical, social and emotional. Each segment is to be treated differently, understanding
the root of the problem and therapeutic intervention is to be administered accordingly. The
Provision 2 states that, “The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an
individual, family, group, community, or population” (Winland-Brown, Lachman & Swanson,
2015). A Christian nurse should be tolerant towards any patient he or she is treating, irrespective
of their religious belief, habit, race or ethnicity and focus on providing care for the person and
completing their duty with faith and a pure heart.
Conclusion:
It is the duty of a Christian faith nurse to have patience and kindness towards humanity.
The guidelines set up the American Nurses Association, in their social policy statement is clear
that it is important to pay attention to human emotion and sympathy towards their ailing
condition. The illness is to be treated strictly with respect to god and faith, keeping in mind the
duty towards patient. It is the motto is the American Nursing Association to pay attention to the
various mortal experiences and be responsive towards well being and ailments under the biotic,
abiotic and social environment. This is the basis of modern nursing standards of a Christian
nurse. A Christian nurse should be tolerant to any form of religious difference, respecting
religious boundaries, avert from judgments while attending to the needs of the ailing patient and
praying for their recovery with a clear conscience.

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References:
De Vogli, R., Kouvonen, A., & Gimeno, D. (2014). The influence of market deregulation on fast
food consumption and body mass index: a cross-national time series analysis. Bulletin of
the World Health Organization, 92(2), 99-107A.
Demissie, S., & Worku, A. (2013). Magnitude and factors associated with malnutrition in
children 6-59 months of age in pastoral community of Dollo Ado district, Somali region,
Ethiopia. Sci J Public Health, 1(4), 175-83.
Dunn, T. M., & Bratman, S. (2016). On orthorexia nervosa: A review of the literature and
proposed diagnostic criteria. Eating behaviors, 21, 11-17.
Hardoy, J. E., Mitlin, D., & Satterthwaite, D. (2013). Environmental problems in an urbanizing
world: finding solutions in cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Routledge.
Huang, C., Phillips, M. R., Zhang, Y., Zhang, J., Shi, Q., Song, Z., ... & Martorell, R. (2013).
Malnutrition in early life and adult mental health: evidence from a natural
experiment. Social science & medicine, 97, 259-266.
Lonterman-Monasch, S., de Vries, O. J., Danner, S. A., Kramer, M. H., & Muller, M. (2013).
Prevalence and determinants for malnutrition in geriatric outpatients. Clinical
nutrition, 32(6), 1007-1011.
Rolfes, S., Pinna, K., & Whitney, E. (2018). Understanding normal and clinical nutrition (11th
ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-337-10003-8

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Winland-Brown, J., Lachman, V. D., & Swanson, E. O. C. (2015). The new code of ethics for
nurses with interpretive statements. 2015: Practical clinical application, Part I. Medsurg
Nursing, 24(4), 268-71.