Educational Opportunities in Nutrition: An Integrated Needs Assessment

 

A comprehensive, multi‐faceted evaluation of the forces that impact clinician behavior - and,
consequently, patient care - is key to the identification of practice gaps, educational needs, and the
optimal design of appropriate educational strategies. Partners used a variety of needs assessment methods to collect and analyze data on clinician practice, competence, attitudes, and barriers to best care in three areas of nutrition management:

  • preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU);
  • adult patients in the critical care unit (CCU); and
  • outpatient treatment of adults who require supplemental nutrition.

The full report outlines the unique educational needs and opportunities in each clinical area, in addition to identifying a set of common themes, including team-based care, communication, the use of guidelines and literature, and evidence-based care.

document-pdf.png Educational Opportunities in Nutrition: An Integrated Needs Assessment

Additionally, the needs assessment project was highlighted as a "Short Report" in the summer 2011 issue of the Journal for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (JCEHP).

document-pdf.png A Mixed-Methods, Multiprofessional Approach to Needs Assessment for Designing Education