The nurse is discussing food selection with a client who recently expe

The nurse is discussing food selection with a client who recently experienced a partial-thickness burn over 20% of her body.

The client expresses a reluctance to ingest a large amount of carbohydrates because she success-fully lost 50 pounds and does not want to regain the weight. The most therapeutic response to the client’s nutritional needs is:
1. “Don’t be concerned about regaining the weight until your burns have healed.”
2. “You need a huge amount of calories to heal, so there won’t be a weight gain.”
3. “You will experience a nitrogen imbalance if there aren’t enough carbohydrates in your diet.”
4. “The extra carbohydrates will be utilized for energy so that your protein can be saved for repair of your skin.”

ANSWER

ANS: 4
Negative nitrogen balance occurs when the body loses more nitrogen than the body gains; for example, with infection, sepsis, burns, fever, starvation, head injury, and trauma. Nutrition during this period needs to provide nutrients to put clients into positive nitrogen balance for healing. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy in the diet. The remaining options concentrate more on the weight gain issue than the energy need.