Nutrition - relevant articles

This page contains a selection of article references on various aspects of nutritional care. The selection is from searches made on the British Nursing Index database within the RCN e-library.

It is intended to illustrate the kinds of additional and supporting information that journal articles can provide, and to encourage you to carry out your own search in order to access a more comprehensive listing which will include abstracts.

As an RCN member you can access British Nursing Index (BNI) in the RCN e-library at Databases to search (you will need your membership number to access).
You will also find here a brief guide to searching BNI and help with accessing full text articles in BNI. There is also access to other databases from this page.

For information about other RCN resources you can use to update yourself and add to your knowledge of a topic, and to help you with finding information see discover more on nutritional care.

For external e-resources see also the information about national e-libraries in each of the UK countries at NHS e-libraries.

Selected articles on nutritional assessment, training and role of health care assistants

The list below combines a selection of articles found by searches which were done in February 2012 in British Nursing Index within the RCN e-Library. The searches were for articles on nutritional assessment and the use of MUST from 2009 onwards; and on training in nutritional care and the role of the HCA from 2006 onwards.
If you find these articles interesting and would like to search for more, the following points may be of help. 

•  These are suggested searches that you can try out for yourself in BNI:
  nutritional assessment: try (nutritional assessment)  or (patient* assess* and nutrit*) or (patient* assess* and malnutrit*)
  nutritional tools: try (nutrition* and MUST)  or (nutrition* and tool*)
  skills, training and competencies: try (nutrition* or malnutrit*) and (competenc* or skill* or train* or educat* or knowledge*)
  HCAs role and nutrition: try (HCA* or health care assistant*) and (nutrition*or  malnutrit*)
• You can limit the search to specific years. You may also want to consider whether these searches need to be adapted in any way depending upon your particular information need.
• You can access British nursing Index (BNI) with your RCN membership number at Databases to search.
• You can find guidance on using BNI at Using your RCN e-library.
• The availability of full text of an article in the RCN e-library is indicated by (FT) at the end of the article details. You can find full text articles via E-journals.
  If you do a search in BNI you can also check availability within the database.

Article details

Anderson JK and Fox JR ( 2012) Potential food-drug interactions in long-term care. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 38(4) pp.38-46.

Best  C (2011) Malnutrition needs identifying in the community. Nursing Times 107(22) pp.16-17.

Best C  and Summers J (2010) Strategies for nutritional care in acute settings. Nursing Older People 22(6) pp. 27-31. (FT)

Brown H and Jones L (2009) The role of dining companions in supporting nursing care. Nursing Standard 23(41) pp.40-46. Describes how a nutritional screening audit is used at Chelsea and Westminster hospital and how volunteers are used at mealtimes. (FT)

Callen BL 2011. Nutritional screening in community dwelling older adults. International Journal of Older People Nursing 6(4) pp.272-281.

Campbell N (2011) Dehydration: why is it still a problem? Nursing times 107(22) pp.12-15.

Cole D (2012) Optimising nutrition for older people with dementia. Nursing Standard 26(20) pp.41-48. (FT)

Collins M and Claros E (2011) Recognizing the face of dehydration. Nursing 41(8) pp.26-31. (FT)

Cosh J (2012) Breaking the fast. Nursing Standard 26(24) pp.22-23. (FT)
Nurse-led research at a London hospital examining surgeons' compliance with the recommended perioperative fasting times.

Dean E (2012) Regular ward checks raise standards of care. Nursing Management (UK) 19(2) pp.12-16. (FT)Dunne A (2009) Management of malnutrition in older people within the hospital setting. British Journal of Nursing 18(17) pp.1030-1035. (FT)

Evans A (2012) Nutrition screening in patients with COPD. Nursing Times 108(11) pp.12-14.

Fletcher A and Carey E (2011) Knowledge, attitudes and practices in the provision of nutritional care. British Journal of Nursing 20(10) pp.615-620. Literature review. (FT)

Fletcher J (2009) Identifying patients at risk of malnutrition: nutrition screening and assessment. Gastrointestinal Nursing 7(5) pp.12-17. (FT)

Gamaletsou MN et al (2012)  Nutritional risk as predictor for healthcare-associated infection among hospitalized elderly patients in the acute care setting. Journal of Hospital Infection 80(2) pp.168-172.

Grantham C (2012) Nutritional monitoring of residents. Nursing & Residential Care 14(2)  pp.80-81. (FT)

Jackson H (2010) Nutritional assessment of a renal patient. Journal of Renal Nursing 2(1) pp.21-23.

Jefferies D, Johnson M and Ravens J (2011) Nurturing and nourishing: the nurses role in nutritional care. Journal of Clinical Nursing 20(3-4) pp.317-330. (FT)

Jones M et al (2012) Food sustainability education as a route to healthier eating: evaluation of a multi-component school programme in English primary schools. Health Education Research 27(3) pp. 448-458.

Kennelly S (2009)  Must have tool. Nursing in the Community 10(4) p.22.

Kennelly S and Dunne P (2009) Building strength. Nursing in the Community 10(2), pp.21-22. Making good use of oral nutritional supplements (ONS).

Langstroth C, Wright C and Parkington T (2011) Implementation and evaluation of a nutritional screening tool. British Journal of Midwifery 19(1) pp.15-21. (FT)

Masters R (2010) Tackling undernutrition in older people from a regional perspective. British Journal of Community Nursing 15(6) pp.266-270. Describes the approach to tackling undernutition made by County Durham and Darlington’s Focus on Undernutrition (FoU) service. (FT)

Medlin S (2012) Nutrition for wound healing. British Journal of Nursing 21(12) pp.11-S15. (FT)

Merrell J (2012) Addressing the nutritional needs of older people in residential care homes. Health and Social Care in the Community (Print edition) 20(2) pp.208-215.

Merriman S (2011) Are you effectively monitoring and supplementing food? Nursing & Residential Care 13(11) pp.527-529. (FT)

Mould J (2009) Nurses must take control of the nutritional needs of stroke patients. British Journal of Nursing 18(22) pp.1410-1414. (FT)

Nazarko L (2009) Nutrition: enabling and encouraging people to eat. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 3(7) pp.341-344. Looks at the role of health care assistants in supporting good nutrition. (FT)

Parsons E (2011) Nutritional care and the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). British Journal of Community Nursing 16(5) pp.S16-S21 supplement. (FT)

Potterton J and Thatcher C (2012) Role of healthcare assistant as nutritional champion. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 6(4) pp.164-168. (FT)

Raymond A (2010) Recognising and managing undernutrition. Practice Nurse 40(9) pp.15-19. (FT)

Schenker S (2009)  Managing patients with malnutrition in the community. Nursing in Practice (50) pp.18-26.

Skates JJ and Anthony PS (2012) Identifying geriatric malnutrition in nursing practice: The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA®)-- an evidence-based screening tool. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 38(3)  pp.18-27.

Smith J, Roberts R and Fahy S (2006) Use of study days to develop the healthcare assistant role. Nursing Times 102(30) pp.34-35.

Thomas J and Davies S (2008) A nurse-led, multiprofessional approach to nutrition. Nursing Times 104(6) pp.31.

Tingle J (2011) Failings in the care of patients receiving parenteral nutrition. British Journal of Nursing 20(3)  pp.186-187. (FT)

Walsh E, Gingell J and Walsh G (2008) Developing practice through action learning to improve the nutritional status of nursing home residents. Foundation of Nursing Studies Dissemination Series 4(6) pp. 1-4. Full text available at the FoNS Centre for Innovation project reports.

Watkins CH and Morgan L ( 2012) Raising nurses' awareness of nutritional supplements. Nursing Times 108(25) pp.20-21.

Wilson N and Best C (2012) Feeding hospital patients: a multiprofessional approach. Nursing Times 108(25) pp.17-18.

Wong S (2012) Validation of the spinal nutrition screening tool (SNST) in patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI): result from a multicentre study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66(3) pp.382-387.

Wu, M (2012) Validity of the malnutrition screening tool for older adults at high risk of hospital readmission. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 38(6) pp.38-45.