To give or not to give supplements

Well, first off, if it is on the MAR it is ordered by the MD, if you sign for it you are responsible for giving it. Our dietician only recomends them for the res who need it (in fact, we get yelled at for giving them to res not ordered it $$$ issues...grr) We also switched to a calorie/ nutrient dense milk shake...Resourse 2.0 so we only have to give small amts 60-90 cc at a time. One other place I worked at for a short time had a can of carnation instant ordered for their supps...um.. no way in heck I was able to get 240ccs in them..
Sounds like your facility is going overboard with the supplements. Makes me ask....whats wrong with the meals? Do all of the residents really need to be on them? If you are having a problem getting them in the residents, I'm sure other nurses are too. Maybe they aren't getting them in,hence the need for more orders? Maybe you all can approach dietary?

We use something called VHC....very high calorie. I think it has 250 calories per ounce. It is some nasty tasting stuff....sweet grease...but the demented residents seem to like it. We have it on the MAR and it gets signed off like any other med.

We have quite a few residents on supplements that refuse it all the time (they don't like it and dietician insists this is just a dementia thing and to keep trying), I do not give them it anymore I sign it on the MAR as refused, saves wasting a whole carton of the stuff. I do not generally offer a supplement if the person has eaten well and had extra pudding either as I do not want to make someone sick. I think supplements are one of those things (like laxatives, painkillers and anti fungal creams) that are written up by GP's and never reviewed.