| Course | NR 228 Nutrition, Health & Wellness |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion post with one reply |
| Length | About 520 words |
| Format | Discussion post with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | BSN (pre-licensure) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NR 228 Week 1
Week 1 Discussion: One Food and What It Carries
A Can of Chicken Noodle Soup at Noon, Heated for One: What It Gives a 74-Year-Old Widow Besides Sodium
Initial Post
The food I want to build this post on is a can of condensed chicken noodle soup, the kind that comes in a red and white can, heated with a can of water and eaten from a mug at noon. It is what my neighbor, Mrs. Doris K., 74, eats for lunch almost every day since her husband died two years ago. She lives alone, has high blood pressure, and told me she has "a can of soup and some crackers" because it is easy and warm.
What it supplies: some protein from the chicken and noodles, warm fluid, and on a cold day, comfort. What it also supplies is sodium. The label on the brand she buys lists 890 mg of sodium per half-cup of condensed soup, and the can holds about two and a half half-cup servings. If she eats the whole can, as she does, that is roughly 2,200 mg of sodium in one lunch, before the crackers. The National Academies set a Chronic Disease Risk Reduction Intake for sodium for adults at 2,300 mg a day, meaning that intakes above that level should be reduced to lower the risk of chronic disease (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM], 2019). Her lunch alone nearly reaches it, and she has high blood pressure.
Why she eats it at that hour: she told me that cooking for one feels pointless, that the soup takes three minutes, and that it is what her husband used to make for her when she was sick. Noon is when she watches her program, and the mug fits on the tray.
What would be lost if it were taken away: a hot meal she will actually make, some fluid in an older woman who does not drink much water, and something that reminds her of her husband. If I told her to stop eating canned soup, I think she would eat nothing at noon, not a salad.
So the change I would suggest is small: the lower-sodium version of the same soup, or half the can with a slice of leftover chicken and some frozen vegetables added. Both keep the mug, the three minutes and the memory, and either would cut the sodium in her lunch substantially without asking her to cook.
My question for the class: when a food is doing more than one job for someone, how do you decide which job matters most?
Reply to a Classmate
Kevin, your post about the energy drink your roommate has before every 0600 lab made me think about how both of our foods are really about time. His drink saves him ten minutes of breakfast; her soup saves her the effort of cooking for one. I wonder whether the change you suggested, a banana and peanut butter, would survive his mornings. Would he eat it if it were already sitting next to his keys?
References
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2019). Dietary reference intakes for sodium and potassium. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25353
The Chamberlain NR 228 Week 1 instructions
The opening NR 228 discussion asks you to examine one food or eating habit, your own or someone else's, and connect it to health. Expect the prompt to ask what the food supplies, why it is eaten and what a nurse might suggest, with a scholarly or government source for any nutrient claim. Sections typically want the first post midweek and a response to a peer before the week closes. The prompt rewards a single, concrete food with real numbers over a general statement about balanced eating. It also rewards respect for why people eat what they eat. Replies should connect foods or habits rather than simply agree, ideally with a question the classmate can answer.
How the NR 228 Week 1 example is put together
The post names its food in the first line, down to the red and white can and the mug. The next paragraph lists what it supplies, then gives the label's sodium figure and the can's total, measured against the 2019 National Academies reference intakes. A third paragraph explains the neighbor's reasons: cooking for one feels pointless, the soup takes three minutes and her late husband made it when she was sick. What would be lost if it were banned comes before any change. The suggestion is small, a lower-sodium version or half a can with chicken and vegetables. The question asks how to choose which job a food is doing. The reply links soup and energy drink.
Reading the NR 228 Week 1 grading rubric
NR 228 discussions are usually scored on the depth of the initial post, the use of evidence, engagement with classmates and writing quality with APA. Depth is earned here by a single food with its numbers and its reasons, so the rubric has specifics to grade. Evidence counts when it supports a nutrient claim directly; the sodium figure is set against the reference intakes rather than left as an adjective. Engagement scores when the reply connects two posts and asks a practical question, as the time-saving link with Kevin's roommate does. The writing row looks at the DOI-bearing reference entry and at whether the post went up early enough for others to answer. Respectful language about the person's choices supports professionalism criteria.
NR 228 Week 1 help from the desk
Nothing loses more than a post with no food in it, a page on balanced eating that gives classmates nothing to discuss. Another common pattern holds the specifics back for a reply, splitting one good contribution into two thin ones. Nutrient claims without a citation are cheap to fix and often left. Replies posted in the final hours get no answer. Long quotations, sodium described as high when the figure was easy to find and closing questions so open any answer fits all cost points. You may write about your own eating if your section allows it. Tell the desk which food you have in mind, and a post can be drafted with its numbers and its reasons.
Get a NR 228 Week 1 example written to your instructions
Send the discussion prompt from your own classroom, along with any reply requirement and the citation style, and a custom example is written to it and returned inside 24 to 48 hours. The first one is free. Tell us the food you want it built around and it will use yours instead of ours.
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NR 228 Week 1 questions, answered
Does the post have to be about my own eating?
Not in most classrooms, though it is the easiest route to something specific. A food you actually eat comes with a time, a price and a reason attached, which is exactly what the post needs. If you would rather keep your own week out of it, pick a food a patient population eats and write about that instead, with the same three moves.
How much science is too much?
The test is whether the paragraph changes anything. A sentence on why fiber slows the return of hunger belongs, because it explains the oatmeal. Two paragraphs on digestion, with the food never mentioned again, read as filler and usually score as filler. Explain the mechanism only where the next sentence acts on it.
What makes a reply score better than a courtesy reply?
Contact plus addition. Name the exact thing the classmate said, then bring something they could not have brought: a different price for the same food, an amount from a source they did not cite, a case where their advice would fail. Courtesy replies are visible instantly, and graders read a great many of them.
Where can I find a free NR 228 Week 1 sample paper?
The full Week 1 post about a can of chicken noodle soup at noon, with the sodium figures, the suggested swap and the reply to Kevin, is printed on this page.
What change does the NR 228 Week 1 post suggest?
It suggests the lower-sodium version of the same soup, or half a can with leftover chicken and frozen vegetables, keeping the mug, the three minutes and the memory of her husband.