Nutrition Care Process
The Nutrition Care Process is a systematic approach to providing high quality nutrition care. The NCP consists of four distinct, interrelated steps:
Nutrition Assessment: The RD collects and documents information such as food or nutrition-related history; biochemical data, medical tests and procedures; anthropometric measurements, nutrition-focused physical findings and client history.
Diagnosis: Data collected during the nutrition assessment guides the RD in selection of the appropriate nutrition diagnosis (i.e., naming the specific problem).
Intervention: The RD then selects the nutrition intervention that will be directed to the root cause (or etiology) of the nutrition problem and aimed at alleviating the signs and symptoms of the diagnosis.
Monitoring/Evaluation: The final step of the process is monitoring and evaluation, which the RD uses to determine if the patient/client has achieved, or is making progress toward, the planned goals.