Learning Skills for Nursing Students

Abstract

'MUST' is a five-step screening tool to identify adults, who are malnourished, at risk of malnutrition (undernutrition), or obese. It also includes management guidelines which can be used to develop a care plan. It is for use in hospitals, community and other care settings and can be used by all care workers. This guide contains: A flow chart showing the 5 steps to use for screening and management BMI chart Weight loss tables Alternative measurements when BMI cannot be obtained by measuring weight and height. Please refer to The 'MUST' Explanatory Booklet for more information when weight and height cannot be measured, and when screening patient groups in which extra care in interpretation is needed (e.g. those with fluid disturbances, plaster casts, amputations, critical illness and pregnant or lactating women). The booklet can also be used for training. See The 'MUST' Report for supporting evidence. Please note that 'MUST' has not been designed to detect deficiencies or excessive intakes of vitamins and minerals and is of use only in adults. The 5 'MUST' Steps Step 1 Measure height and weight to get a BMI score using chart provided. If unable to obtain height and weight, use the alternative procedures shown in this guide. Step 2 Note percentage unplanned weight loss and score using tables provided. Step 3 Establish acute disease effect and score. Step 4 Add scores from steps 1, 2 and 3 together to obtain overall risk of malnutrition. Step 5 Use management guidelines and/or local policy to develop care plan. Malnutrition Advisory Group A Standing Committee of BAPEN MAG MUST 'Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool' 'MUST' BAPEN is registered charity number 1023927 www.bapen.org.uk © BAPEN Step-BMI score (& BMI) Height (feet and inches) Weight (stones and pounds) Weight (kg) Height (m) Note : The black lines denote the exact cut off points (30,20 and 18.5 kg/m 2), figures on the chart have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Making the link between critical appraisal, thinking and analysis

“…Developing a timeline for completion of academic work can enable the student to keep on track and not over focus on one area (Hutchfield and Standing, 2012). Students will also need to be prepared to review and edit their work on several occasions (Davis et al, 2011). Students should not put off writing their literature synthesis aiming to get it perfect in the first draft, but instead should start writing early and often, and expect to refine and develop their work (Delmont et al, 2004).…”