Emmi has been under a lot of stress and is concerned about her overall health.  She works nights at a local restaurant and takes a full course load during the day at a local community college. At lunch today, her friend Jessi suggested that she take Nutrimega supplements to help prevent colds, flu, and other illnesses and reduce her stress. Jessi said that she has been taking Nutrimega for several months and feels great. 

Emmi was a little surprised to learn that a month’s supply of Nutrimega cost about $50.00, but she decided to buy the supplements, anyway.  The Nutrimega label recommends taking 2 or 3 tablets daily for health maintenance and 2-3 tablets every 3 hours at the first sign of illness.  When Emmi read the label on the bottle, she noted that each tablet contained the following nutrients (listed as % daily value): 33% Vitamin A (75% as preformed Vitamin A), 700% Vitamin C, 50% Zinc, and 10% Selenium.

If you were Emmi’s dietitian, health clinician, or nutritionist, would you recommend that Emmi use this product? 

Are there any health risks associated with its use, considering the dosed recommended on the label for maintenance and illness and if so, what are they? 

What alternative suggestions would give Emmi to help her maintain her overall health?

Instructions

For this assignment, please identify an ethnically or culturally diverse restaurant, business (market, shop, or store), or place of worship in their community that serves a group of people different from their own upbringing and heritage.

• Engage respectfully with the organization—for example, you could eat a meal, shop for goods, or attend a worship/religious activity.
• Informally talk to the business owner/religious leader, employees, and/or people at the location to find out more about the group of people the organization typically serves. For example, if you choose a restaurant, ask the server about the food being served, how the food is prepared, how to eat it, to what extent is the real authentic/traditional to the culture, and what mealtime is like for that culture; seek to understand more about this group that is different from you. Consider a visit to a restaurant during non-peak meal times for the least disruption. If you choose a business or place of worship, proceed in a similar, respectful manner. Consider carrying out this activity with classmates or with family/friends.
• After completing this part of the assignment, develop a 2-page reflection paper (approximately 500 words) on your experiences. The paper should include the following:
  • A description of your initial reactions/feelings about the setting
  • A description of what you learned about members of your community who are different from you
  • Then identify 1-2 additional things you would like to know about this community/population
  • A description of what you learned about yourself during the experience
  • A discussion of what you learned and experienced in this activity relates to public health nurses and public health nursing practice
• Submit the completed paper to this assignment dropbox.

Rubric