CSR Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the CSR exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 CSR Exam Format at a Glance
📚 CSR Topics to Study (45)
✍️ Sample CSR Questions & Answers
1. A renal dietitian is using Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) for a dialysis patient. Which component is assessed in SGA?
SGA is a clinical tool that combines dietary history (weight changes, appetite, dietary intake changes, GI symptoms) with physical examination findings (subcutaneous fat, muscle wasting, edema) to categorize nutritional status as A (well-nourished), B (mild-moderate malnutrition), or C (severe malnutrition).
2. A peritoneal dialysis patient takes sevelamer with meals yet has persistently elevated serum phosphorus. Which assessment question should the renal dietitian ask FIRST?
Phosphate binders must be co-ingested with food to physically bind dietary phosphate in the GI tract; timing errors (taking binders before or after meals) are the most common reason for treatment failure before adherence is assumed.
3. According to the protein balance concept, a stable HD patient with nPCR (normalized protein catabolic rate) of 0.8 g/kg/day is BEST described as:
In stable HD patients, nPCR approximates dietary protein intake. nPCR of 0.8 g/kg/day falls below the KDOQI recommendation of ≥ 1.2 g/kg/day, indicating inadequate protein intake and risk for negative nitrogen balance and PEW.
4. Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) evaluates nutritional status in dialysis patients by examining which components?
SGA assesses nutritional status by combining dietary history, recent weight changes, and physical signs of fat or muscle loss.
5. How should an CSR professional handle a situation outside their scope of competency?
Professional responsibility requires recognizing one's limitations and referring to qualified specialists when a situation exceeds competency boundaries.
6. What does the ethical principle of beneficence entail in renal nutrition care?
Beneficence is an ethical principle that requires healthcare professionals to act in ways that benefit the patient and promote their well-being. In renal nutrition care, this means providing interventions and advice that are intended to improve the patient's health, prevent harm, and optimize their nutritional status, always with their best interests as the primary goal.