Nutrition Monitoring and Evaluation

Key Points:

• Nutrition Monitoring and Evaluation is the fourth step in the Nutrition Care Process.
• During this step, the RDN monitors and evaluates the clients progress through consistent terms—or indicators—against criteria carefully selected by the RDN.
• Nutrition Monitoring & Evaluation sets the stage for reassessment in the next cycle of the nutrition care process.

The purpose of the Monitoring and Evaluation step is to determine and measure the amount of progress made for the nutrition intervention and whether the nutrition related goals or expected outcomes are being met. This allows the RDN to implement purposeful actions intended to positively change or improve a nutrition related problem during future reassessments.

Nutrition Monitoring & Evaluation terms mirror the domains of the Nutrition Assessment domains (except for Client History, which belongs only to the Nutrition Assessment step):

• Food/Nutrition-Related History
• Biochemical Data, Medical Tests, and Procedures
• Anthropometric Measurements
• Nutrition-Focused Physical Findings
• Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation Tools

The Nutrition Monitoring & Evaluation domains contain terms that called indicators—or markers that can be observed or measured. Indicators are terms used to identify the data elements that are evaluated to measure change based on results of a nutrition intervention. Client data can be compared against standards, recommendations or goals, such as Daily Recommended Intakes, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, guidelines for specific disease conditions or institutional and regulatory standards.

Visit the Academy’s eNCPT for additional tutorials and to subscribe for more Nutrition Care Process resources, explanation and narratives, terminology sheets, reference sheets and more.