Healthcare Nutrition Clinical Foundations™

What you will learn

This program has four parts. By the end of each part, you should be able to:

Part 1: Foundations of Nutrition & Human Health

• Explain how nutrition influences health, recovery, and quality of life across healthcare settings.
• Differentiate the major macronutrients and micronutrients and describe their core functions.
• Describe the roles of water, hydration, and electrolyte balance in normal body function.
• Explain foundational concepts of energy intake, expenditure, and metabolism.
• Recognize factors that influence nutrition needs across individuals and across the lifespan.
• Identify basic signs of possible nutrition risk and appropriate referral to nutrition professionals within professional scope.

Part 2: Clinical Nutrition, Therapeutic Diets & Common Health Conditions

• Explain the purpose of therapeutic diets in healthcare settings.
• Recognize common diet modifications and diet-order terminology used in patient care.
• Describe foundational nutrition considerations related to diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, kidney disease, and gastrointestinal conditions.
• Differentiate food allergies from food intolerances and identify related patient-safety concerns.
• Recognize when established dietary plans must be followed and when referral to a registered dietitian or other qualified professional is needed.
• Apply foundational clinical nutrition concepts to realistic patient scenarios.

Part 3: Nutrition Risk, Malnutrition, Healing & Special Populations

• Recognize common indicators of potential nutrition risk in healthcare settings.
• Explain foundational concepts related to malnutrition and its consequences.
• Identify factors that contribute to inadequate intake and unintended weight loss.
• Describe how illness, injury, surgery, and recovery can affect nutrition needs.
• Recognize how nutrition supports wound healing and pressure-injury management.
• Identify situations that require communication, referral, or escalation to qualified professionals.

Part 4: Applied Clinical Nutrition, Patient Safety & Nutrition Care Practice

• Apply foundational nutrition principles to realistic healthcare situations.
• Recognize nutrition-related patient-safety concerns and escalate appropriately.
• Verify established diet requirements for the right patient using organizational procedures.
• Recognize food-allergy, texture-modification, and liquid-consistency safety concerns.
• Identify hydration concerns and factors affecting food and fluid intake.
• Document and communicate meaningful nutrition observations to support interdisciplinary care.

Program details

• Self-paced online program for healthcare professionals
• Program length: 10 hours, in four parts
• Includes graded assessments you must pass to complete the program
• Earn a downloadable Certificate of Completion upon successful program completion—ideal for documenting professional development and submitting to your employer for potential reimbursement
• Each certificate has a verification ID that employers can check at nahcp.com/verify

Program length describes the length of the program, not a number of continuing-education credits. Check with your employer or licensing board before submitting a program for credit or reimbursement.