[pat8585]

How do you handle Residents who take FOREVER to eat their food and need assistance with the spoon? Do you give them a time limit? Obviously a staff person can not sit there all day and feed them????

[sunnydaydream]

Not sure about other places, but at our LTC we sit there whether it takes 15 minutes or two hours. We sit... It's frustrating at times because you know there are about 14million other things to be done, but by not sitting there and feeding when the resident is still eating would be considered neglect.

[bethin]

I don't think there's much you can do. If they're hungry they're hungry and they deserve a full belly as much as anyone else. Leaving them when they're still hungry is considered neglect.

I use alot of prompts when I'm feeding. Sometimes a pt will fall asleep or forget they're supposed to open they're mouth, chew and swallow.

[kizzykatlove]

sit and feed for a long loong looong time.. and try not to think of all the things you have to do... and if there 's a tv in the room i try to turn it to something the pt likes...but i like to talk to them while i feed them.. i ask them where they grew up , and questions like that if they can answer..

[ivanaBEEaRN]

Feed them as long as it takes, unless they are refusing to swallow their food, or spitting it out. Then you try the ensure. A lot of times if a resident is taking a long time to eat we will switch who is feeding the resident sometimes people just eat better with someone else. One resident we have loves chochalate icecream, so when I feed her every other bite or every third bite of food is the ice cream and that usually keeps her eating. I also do a lot of talking to them sometimes rub their backs to keep them awake to keep them eating.

[michelle126]

Yep...as long as it takes.

Just a few ideas...get a speech and dietary consult. See if you can get small meals and high nutrient foods (enhanced cereals, protein shakes and protein puddings).

[DreamyEyes]

Yup, you do have to wait whether it be 30 minutes or 3 hours. When I was doing clinical rotation at a nursing home, we had one woman who would literally take 3 hours just to eat all her food with assistance. BUT, she always finished 100% of her meals as long as you stayed and kept feeding her everything on the plate.

[YellowFinchFan]

Originally Posted by bethin

I don't think there's much you can do. If they're hungry they're hungry and they deserve a full belly as much as anyone else. Leaving them when they're still hungry is considered neglect.

I use alot of prompts when I'm feeding. Sometimes a pt will fall asleep or forget they're supposed to open they're mouth, chew and swallow.

We are often short staffed and this is a problem - I will feed my patient and use the laptop computer in their room to catch up on my charting. I actually enjoy feeding them, especially if they like the food and I get to focus on them for that time and maybe ask them about themselves - their past jobs etc if they are able to recall.

[pumpkin92356]

What I do in this situation is ask one of the licensed staff to take over for me if I should need to get my work done. Where I work the nurses behind the desk and the activities staff as well as the CNA's assist the residents with meals. There are some very caring RN's And LVN's at my facility. Haven't met a licensed nurse who would refuse to assist with feeding a resident.

[marjoriemac]

It takes as long as it takes. Just remember that reheating hot food too many times is not good, try a plate warmer to keep food warm for longer. Try prompts, make sure the resident likes the food, try using fortified food to give the fuller feeling quicker, take resident into a quieter area as they may be distracted too easily, take all distractions off the table. Try and establish whether dining has become a habit ie the person is eating for the sake of eating (look for body language to signify enjoyment or suggest an activity right after lunch which may interest them and note the response). Time is something we all need more of, staff and residents, there is no easy answer.