title: Nutritional status: a basic 'vital sign'.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to alert and inform the home healthcare nurse about the national focus on the unacceptably high levels of malnutrition in the elderly; its significance in patient outcome; the effort of the Nutrition Screening Initiative to help all healthcare professionals incorporate routine nutrition screening and intervention activities into healthcare practice; and the simple screening tools available to assist in evaluations.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Cope
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D003663:Decision Trees; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009737:Nursing Records; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012307:Risk Factors