The Challenges of Implementing Dietary Supplements

Dietary supplements are meant to add more nutrients in a diet that one takes. They can be single nutrients like protein, vitamin, an amino acid or a mineral among others or a combination of two of them and more. The implementation of the dietary supplements as nutritional intervention faces numerous challenges one of them being the various forms in which they are manufactured. They are in powdery forms, soft gels, tablets, gel caps, capsules or liquid forms (Jeffreys, 2010). This wide range variation in their form has resulted in to confusion to the users because they think some forms are better than others. The dietetics have had hard time in convincing people that all of them are good because guardians prefer giving their children the dietary supplements that are in liquid form to those in other forms. This causes a shortage in the liquid dietary supplements and excessive availability of the others.

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The implementation of the dietary supplements is restricted by the regulation that only allows them to be taken orally. This regulation limits the usage the usage to those people that are fine with eating and cannot get puked or vomit after ingesting a substance. In the case where someone has throat, mouth or any digestive organ disorder, the dietary supplements cannot be used as nutritional interventions because they are not injectable (Temple, 2016). This challenge is more frequent among the children because some are allergic to particular ingredients of a given dietary supplement given to them. Vomiting is just one among the other body hyper reactions that children develop when exposed to an agent that they are allergic to.

With the regulations that are to be enforced by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) are not strictly followed by the manufacturers. Most of the manufacturers have been found labeling their products inaccurately, produce low quality products and making dietary supplements that are contaminated and are harmful to the consumers (Jeffreys, 2010).

Strategies for Nurses to overcome the Challenges in Implementation of Dietary Supplements

The Nurses have to carry out inter-professionalism in which the means are developed for the implementation of the efficient nutritional interventions. One person being equipped with skills in several professions in the same field helps them to be a good solution finder. For instance if a nurse can be competent in his own field and also in dietetics and nutrition, it will be easier for this person to detect accurate labeling of the dietary supplements and clearly distinguish them from those that are inaccurately labeled (Temple, 2016).

By attending seminars and trainings meant for the professionals in the field of Health equips them with further skills that help them overcome the challenge of administering low quality substances to the clients, families and the entire population. In the seminars and through trainings, they are exposed to the fake and high quality supplements and they can distinguish between the two comfortably. The proportions of the different ingredients of different dietary supplements are shown to them by the specialists and manufacturers who might be the trainers in this case.

After the knowledge is acquired by the Nurses, they can come up with publications that can be issued to the public to educate the families and the population about the dietary supplements and this would help in eradicating the belief that the liquid form is the best (Jeffreys, 2010).

References

Temple, N. (2016). The Regulation of Dietary Supplements in Canada: Many Promises but Little Progress. Journal Of Dietary Supplements, 1-4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2016.1201719Jeffreys, M. (2010). Teaching cultural competence in nursing and health care. New York: Springer Pub. Co.