Applying the Dietary Guidelines for Texans in Clinical Practice
Course #98960 - $15 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
The Dietary Guidelines for Texans offer a clinically actionable, evidence-based, and culturally flexible framework for nutrition counseling in a state with significant dietary health challenges. The three-pillar approach--minimize processing, optimize preparation, and honor dietary diversity--provides a practical scaffold for interprofessional teams to use at the bedside, in clinic, and in community settings. By understanding the evidence behind each recommendation and proactively addressing the social determinants that shape what Texans actually eat, healthcare providers can serve as meaningful agents of dietary change for the patients and communities they serve.
- INTRODUCTION
- THE THREE PILLARS OF THE DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR TEXANS
- WHY PROCESSING MATTERS: THE CLINICAL EVIDENCE
- KEY FOOD GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS
- HOW YOU PREPARE YOUR FOOD MATTERS
- THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO EAT HEALTHY
- ADDRESSING FOOD INSECURITY AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS
- INTERPROFESSIONAL CLINICAL APPLICATION
- CONCLUSION
- Works Cited
This course is designed for healthcare professionals in Texas who may counsel patients regarding dietary guidelines and healthy eating.
The purpose of this course is to provide healthcare professionals in Texas with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve patients' understanding of and adherence to the Texas dietary guidelines.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Describe the three foundational pillars of the Dietary Guidelines for Texans and explain the evidence-based rationale behind each pillar.
- Counsel patients on specific food choices using the key recommendations outlined in the Texas guidelines.
- Identify and address real-world social, cultural, and economic barriers that affect dietary adherence among Texas patients, incorporating the Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee framework of access, time, skills, meaning, and needs.
Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and NetCE Nurse Planner. She works as a Nurse Division Planner for NetCE and a per diem nurse practitioner in urgent care in Central Illinois. Mary graduated with her Associate’s degree in nursing from Carl Sandburg College, her BSN from OSF Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing in 2013, and her MSN with a focus on nursing education from Chamberlain University in 2017. She received a second master's degree in nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Chamberlain University in 2019. She is an adjunct faculty member for a local university in Central Illinois in the MSN FNP program. Her previous nursing experience includes emergency/trauma nursing, critical care nursing, surgery, pediatrics, and urgent care. As a nurse practitioner, she has practiced as a primary care provider for long-term care facilities and school-based health services. She enjoys caring for minor illnesses and injuries, prevention of disease processes, health, and wellness. In her spare time, she stays busy with her two children and husband, coaching baseball, staying active with her own personal fitness journey, and cooking. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Illinois Society of Advanced Practice Nursing, for which she is a member of the bylaws committee.
Contributing faculty, Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
John M. Leonard, MD
Margo A. Halm, RN, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.









