Your patient sometimes forgets to eat. In which part of the nursing care plan would the nurse expect to find this statement: “Offer snacks and finger foods frequently”?

Choice A reason: Interventions, like offering snacks, address identified problems (e.g., forgetting to eat) to meet nutritional needs. This action targets physiological deficits, potentially linked to cognitive impairments from low acetylcholine in dementia, ensuring adequate caloric intake to support brain function and overall health in the care plan. Choice B reason: Planning/goals outline desired outcomes, not specific actions. Forgetting to eat, possibly due to frontal lobe dysfunction, requires goals like “maintain adequate nutrition.” Interventions, not goals, specify actions like offering snacks, making this section incorrect for the statement’s placement in the care plan. Choice C reason: Assessment involves data collection, like observing eating patterns, not actions like offering snacks. Forgetting to eat may reflect cognitive deficits, but assessment identifies the problem, not solutions. This section precedes interventions, making it an incorrect location for the described statement. Choice D reason: Diagnosis identifies problems, like “impaired nutrition” due to cognitive deficits, not specific actions. Offering snacks is an intervention to address the diagnosis, not the diagnosis itself. This section is incorrect for the statement, which belongs in the intervention phase of the care plan.