Eating the patients' food?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  1. Do you eat the patients' food/snacks supplied by the facility?

    • 12
      No, never...it's stealing
    • 12
      No, but I know a lot of people who do
    • 47
      Sometimes I eat crackers, if I'm feeling sick because I'm starving
    • 12
      Yes, I do, and I feel guilty about it sometimes
    • 61
      Yes I do and I don't care. I'm working hard and need food to keep going

143 members have participated

What do you think about staff, family members of patients, and/or anyone else other than patients, eating the snacks in the nutrition room designated for patients? Have you ever done it or seen anyone else? Do you think it's stealing, if your facility doesn't offer them to you, patient's families, etc. Do you think staff should be able to have them if their not able to take a formal lunch break?

Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

This might be off topic but this thread reminds me of a situation at the hospital where I previously worked. Any nurse who did a double shift was given a meal coupon to use in the hospital cafeteria. Some of the nurses who routinely pulled doubles would save up their meal tickets and treat their kids to pizza night in the hospital cafeteria.

The Pumps-and-Pearls crowd got wind of this and stopped giving the meal tickets because they were being "abused". They didn't stop to think that those double shifts saved them a pile of money on agency staff and translated to a lot of meals the nurses weren't having with their families. If their idea of a family night out is pizza in the hospital cafeteria, how do you begrudge them? I thought it was the epitome of pettiness from the people who keep bankers' hours.

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I wouldn't eat food off a patients tray or eat the meals in the fridge because we typically only have 2-3 sandwiches in the fridge at a time so i like to save those for the patients. BUT I do not feel guilty about eating the 2 cracker packs of graham crackers. Im not a diabetic but when I do get hungry I get SO shaky and it really does impact my work!

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Im a CA but I feel I could answer this because I do typically eat graham crackers from my floor. While I could take snacks from home (and most times I do!) but sometimes I'm running out the door to get to work and don't have time to find a snack I want. Other times, I have a snack where it isn't really suitable to eat while on the floor. Such as peanut butter crackers (allergies) or something kinda messy like a muffin. Sometimes its just easier to take some graham crackers, stick them in your pocket and eat them on the go while still being able to keep up with your work. Comes in handy big time when you're short staffed and have 9-10 patients! :) i will say thought I would rather have a healthy snack!!

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This may be a stupid question to you nurses, but why not just bring a snack from home and eat it at work? You could bring healthly snacks that fill you up too.

I'll go out on a limb and say that most health care providers bring their own stuff most of the time. Having time to sit down and eat it in the break room...well that's another story.

There are also times when I've been in a hurry and forgot, or went in, spur of the moment due to a call off and didn't have lunch prepared. On midnights, not bringing a lunch can be a mess because the cafeteria and gift shop is usually closed and ordering out is not always an option. Sometimes places have closed or have stopped delivering before I have time to even think about eating something. I've also worked in places in the past that had nothing around it but fields for miles.

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Im a CA

What is a CA?

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clinical assistant..pretty much another name for a cna

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clinical assistant..pretty much another name for a cna

Oh, ok. I've never seen the position with that title before. Thanks for explaining.

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The hospital won't suffer a great loss if the nurse eats the occasional cracker, especially if it helps her/him have a better shift ;)

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Anything that has gone into a patient's room is repulsive to me. If dirty trays have gone back to the cart, then anything on the cart is radioactive. A new tray for a discharged or newly NPO patient is fair game, though. However, I usually can find a patient's family member or extra hungry patient who will take it.

I ALWAYS have my own lunch and snacks, though. Always.

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No problem:)

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🙋🏼*♀️

If it's the last of something, I don't.

But if a patient is transferred/discharged and doesn't want the food and it hasn't been touched, it depends on what it is. I'll have a ginger ale or some peanut butter or a sandwich sometimes. After all, I know I'm not the only one who spends money out of my pocket to get a patient something special they want to eat or drink because the kitchen either won't or doesn't send it, or if it takes forever. So the hospital owes us a ginger ale or two! Besides when do we actually have time to sit down and have lunch?

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Specializes in ER.

If I've been reduced to eating one of our sandwiches, I'm really, really hungry with no other options. I've done it, but I try to bring enough food from home.

I use hospital tea bags almost every shift, and without guilt. Actually, I feel happy that they have something that allows a soothing ten minute break. It's like the hospital is caring for their nurses (I know if asked outright my manager would say they are just for patients, but I can keep my fantasies)

They took our pop and candy, they took our vending machines, they can damn sure allow us tea and coffee IMO.

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