Eating in bed

[sharann, BSN, RN]

Any tips for feeding pts when you get those post Cath pts who must be flat or at 20 degrees for 4-6 hours? Do you order them cold foods that are easier to eat lying down? This seems to be the big issue with these pts. They look at me like "whadya mean I can't sit up for lunch!"

[suzanne4, RN]

First of all you can raise the head of a bed, opposite of what you do at a code. You just can't bend the bed to put the patient in a fowler's position.

"Finger foods" such as a turkey sandwich, a piece of fruit, etc. is perfect.

Foregt about soups, chili, things that need to be cut. Many of the hospitals that I have worked at actually have a special "finger food" menu for this purpose.

[RNKPCE]

We order "finger food trays" too and put a towel across their chest. Some docs want the patients in reverse trendelenburg which makes eating easier.

[dianah, ASN]

Whenever the pts ask, "how am I going to eat, being flat?" I always grin and tell them, with a wink, "you know, somehow being flat never seems to stop people from eating."

We use Angioseal or Perclose and it's actually better for the seal, per the reps, to elevate the head (no more than 30 degrees), post-exam.

At another facility we s l o w l y elevated the head of the bed before the pt left the lab, so we could monitor the site after elevating the head 15 - 20 degrees, even after digital pressure was held.

Our Short Stay Unit serves sandwiches post-exam. Perhaps your dietary would put together a finger-food tray for just such times.