Hello everyone! My name is Stephanie Shay, and I am currently in the advanced clinical rotation at my local hospital and place of employment, Summa Akron City Hospital. I feel that I have learned an incredible amount during this rotation, and so far I have most enjoyed the opportunities to give diet education and counseling to appropriate patients. It’s a great feeling to encounter a patient who is genuinely motivated and to know that I am someone who has provided tools and information that will be used to better that person’s health.
One recent experience I had with education concerned the topic I have chosen for my Professional Research Presentation- the FODMAP diet as a treatment option for IBS. Recently, I encountered a patient who had begun following a strict FODMAP diet five weeks prior. Although the patient’s admission diagnosis was not related to IBS symptoms, the patient was able to share with me the amazing symptomatic improvement which was believed to be the result of following the diet. This particular patient was experiencing severe symptoms several times daily before initiating the diet and was now only having symptoms once every 7-10 days.
Although having a positive experience with the diet, the patient and family were unsure of how the diet works, how to know which foods were acceptable, and how to progress to a maintenance diet. Thanks to the preliminary research and assignments I have so far completed, I was able to review the proposed popular theories with the patient, review education materials, provide food lists, and refer the patient to accurate resources for further information related to the diet. I was able to treat this patient with the same thoroughness as any other patient with a more common nutritional concern because of my knowledge of a somewhat uncommon and relatively new treatment option.
I believe that continuing research and positive outcomes related to the FODMAP diet are going to lead to an increase in popularity of the diet, and I am now looking forward to presenting this information to the dietitians at Akron City Hospital for more common use in the future. This experience has also highlighted the importance of being knowledgeable of current research related to nutrition and how we may use that information to impact patient care.
One recent experience I had with education concerned the topic I have chosen for my Professional Research Presentation- the FODMAP diet as a treatment option for IBS. Recently, I encountered a patient who had begun following a strict FODMAP diet five weeks prior. Although the patient’s admission diagnosis was not related to IBS symptoms, the patient was able to share with me the amazing symptomatic improvement which was believed to be the result of following the diet. This particular patient was experiencing severe symptoms several times daily before initiating the diet and was now only having symptoms once every 7-10 days.
Although having a positive experience with the diet, the patient and family were unsure of how the diet works, how to know which foods were acceptable, and how to progress to a maintenance diet. Thanks to the preliminary research and assignments I have so far completed, I was able to review the proposed popular theories with the patient, review education materials, provide food lists, and refer the patient to accurate resources for further information related to the diet. I was able to treat this patient with the same thoroughness as any other patient with a more common nutritional concern because of my knowledge of a somewhat uncommon and relatively new treatment option.
I believe that continuing research and positive outcomes related to the FODMAP diet are going to lead to an increase in popularity of the diet, and I am now looking forward to presenting this information to the dietitians at Akron City Hospital for more common use in the future. This experience has also highlighted the importance of being knowledgeable of current research related to nutrition and how we may use that information to impact patient care.
