Risk Assessment & Management Flashcards
7 cards from real ACBN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Risk Assessment & Management flashcards as text
A nutritionist discovers a client has been self-supplementing with 10,000 IU vitamin D daily for 18 months. Which lab value is most critical to assess for toxicity risk?
Answer: 25-hydroxyvitamin D and serum calcium
Vitamin D toxicity manifests as hypercalcemia; measuring 25(OH)D confirms excess storage and serum calcium identifies the primary toxicity endpoint.
Which food safety temperature range is known as the 'danger zone' for bacterial growth?
Answer: 40°F to 140°F (4°C to 60°C)
The USDA defines 40°F–140°F as the temperature danger zone where pathogens multiply most rapidly in food.
A client with phenylketonuria (PKU) must restrict which amino acid to prevent neurological damage?
Answer: Phenylalanine
PKU is caused by deficient phenylalanine hydroxylase; phenylalanine accumulates and is neurotoxic, requiring strict dietary restriction.
When conducting a diet history for cardiovascular risk, which dietary factor has the strongest evidence for raising LDL cholesterol?
Answer: Trans fatty acids and saturated fatty acids
Trans fatty acids simultaneously raise LDL and lower HDL, while saturated fatty acids raise LDL; both are the most evidence-based dietary LDL-raising factors.
Which condition increases the risk of refeeding syndrome when initiating nutritional support?
Answer: Prolonged starvation or severe malnutrition
Refeeding syndrome occurs when carbohydrate reintroduction in severely malnourished individuals causes intracellular phosphate shifts, leading to dangerous hypophosphatemia.
A pregnant client asks about fish consumption. Which fish poses the highest methylmercury risk and should be avoided entirely?
Answer: Tilefish (Gulf of Mexico)
Tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico has among the highest methylmercury concentrations of any commercial fish and is on the FDA/EPA 'avoid' list for pregnant women.
Which assessment finding most strongly indicates high malnutrition risk in an older adult living independently?
Answer: Unintentional 10% weight loss over 6 months
Unintentional weight loss of ≥5% over 1 month or ≥10% over 6 months is a major red flag for clinically significant malnutrition in older adults.