Dining room vent.

[Forever Sunshine]

Dietary staff has been cut in my facility and it is SHOWING! The food is cold, the residents aren't happy and who do they complain to.. us.

"Honey this soup is ice cold. The meatloaf tastes like paper. And I didn't get any dessert."

I tell them, "Thats because I didn't cook tonight."

My main vent is that the dietician wants the TV off during dinner. So last night the TV was on and we were passing the food out. I get told by the cook, "The TV has to be turned off during dinner." The residents sitting by the TV wanted it on and you could just imagine the looks I got when I had to tell them I had to turn it off. I just don't get it. The residents sitting by the TV are perfectly capable of making their own decisions, have no issues with not eating/losing weight, and if this is their home, and everything according to the powers that be needs to be centered around them.. then there's just nothing wrong with having the TV on.

End vent.

[Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN]

I've tasted the food. There are some good and bad meals. The ladies were livid with the meatloaf though. One actually told the cook what she thought of it lol.

I plan on bringing the TV situation to my supervisors attention and see where it goes from there. I don't want to go over anyone's head or step on the wrong toes. When I turned that TV off.. not one resident was happy. And they never disagree on the channel so I really don't know the rationale behind the dieticians decision to have the TV off during dinner.

[Gold_SJ]

I agree with many of the previous posters. As its a LTC facility, residents have the right to watch television during dinner as it is their home, not a hospital. Dieticians should not be focusing on behavioural issues such as TV watching in elderly but instead calorie intake and meals that the residents enjoy such as portion changes or increased variety.

When it comes to cold food, well thats a health and safety risk so it would deserve some form of incident report/or discussion to prevent it happening again.

:) I hope it all works out for you *is sheepish* I can only imagine what it would've been like to turn a favourite show off on a group of people. I'd want to hide under a rock, I'd feel like some mean dictator or something.

Take care! Let us know how it turns out.

[StephPR]

I'm sure they want the TV off so the residents can focus on their delicious meals. Paper meatloaf... mmm....

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Um....sometimes people eat more when watching TV.

We had the same issues..when food is sent back alot, they tend to get it right the firstime

[Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN]

:) I hope it all works out for you *is sheepish* I can only imagine what it would've been like to turn a favourite show off on a group of people. I'd want to hide under a rock, I'd feel like some mean dictator or something.

Thats exactly how I felt! Like I said in my first post.. just imagine the faces I got. Not one of them was happy.

Us nurses HATE going in there because of all these rules they have. And before they made all these new rules I really didn't mind it(although it sucked a good hour and a half away from everything else I had to do). I'd sit with the residents and converse with them about their day, the food, their family, the news(if I wasn't grilled for having the TV on).