Enhancing nutrition screening in patients with kidney disease
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Enhancing nutrition screening in patients with kidney disease

Helena Jackson Renal dietitian, renal administration, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To refresh your knowledge of malnutrition in people with kidney disease

  • To understand how to undertake nutrition screening in this patient group

  • To familiarise yourself with some of the specific tools that can be used for nutrition screening in people with kidney disease

Malnutrition is common in patients with kidney disease, and can exacerbate the individual and economic burden of the condition. The identification of malnutrition is essential to inform management interventions and improve patient outcomes, and nutrition screening can be considered the first stage in this process. The development of simple nutrition screening tools has assisted nurses in undertaking widespread, rapid assessments of patients’ malnutrition risk. However, generic tools may not be appropriate or accurate in patients with kidney disease. This article explains some of the challenges of identifying malnutrition in this patient group and outlines some disease-specific tools that nurses can use to enhance nutrition screening.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2023.e11934

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@RD_Helena1

Correspondence

Helena.jackson@stgeorges.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Jackson H (2023) Enhancing nutrition screening in patients with kidney disease. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2023.e11934

Published online: 07 August 2023

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more