Nutrition in nursing curricula: recent developments and recommendations

In summary, nursing and nutrition have matured as scholarly professional disciplines. Both have bodies of knowledge and professional practice arenas that are unique, yet interrelated. Professional maturity and social necessity are resulting in increased collaboration and cooperation between nurses and dietitians after a time of separation and lack of communication. The status of nutrition education for nurses at this time is complex. There is consensus that nurses have a role in the nutritional care of clients and that nutrition content is essential. But what that content should be has not been generally accepted. Consequently, questions related to what content should be emphasized, its proper placement in the curriculum, and the best way to teach nutrition have not been answered. The eight guidelines developed by Morse offer a basis for the development, implementation and evaluation of essential nutrition content in undergraduate nursing curricula. The SNE content used in conjunction with these guidelines can help direct the selection of specific content. The professional background of the educator who teaches nutrition in nursing curricula influences content. We believe that both nurses and dietitians must be actively involved in the nutrition education of nurses. Both professions have as part of their perspective the health of people. The focus of nursing has been described as "the study of caring in the human health experience." The focus of dietetics has been described as the study of the impact of food and nutrients on the health of people.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)