Feeding Residents

sunnydaydream · Aug 31, 2007

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 · Aug 31, 2007

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.

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Aug 31, 2007

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..

LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN · Aug 31, 2007

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.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2007

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 · Aug 31, 2007

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 · Aug 31, 2007

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 · Sep 7, 2007

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, LPN · Sep 8, 2007

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.

lovingtheunloved, ASN, RN · Sep 16, 2007

Maybe they don't like the food. I wouldn't eat pureed anything. I can't imagine it's any more pleasant for the residents. Let them eat junk. Ice cream, cookies, cake, chips, whatever it is they like. Institutional food is usually crappy, and most of their taste buds are gone anyway. Sugar. Give them sugar. It's why God made insulin.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Sep 16, 2007

I'm with lovingtheunloved---give residents what they like, and they just might eat more.

Right now I have a little lady in my ALF who is losing the battle with MS. She never was what anyone would call chunky, but as the disease progressed she withered away to about 80 pounds dripping wet due to repeated refusals to eat. Well, when we finally figured out what she liked---ice cream and puddings---we just started giving it to her, and VOILA! The weight loss stopped, she began taking interest in food again, and even though she's close to the end, she is at least keeping up enough strength to stay in ALF, rather than having to go to a nursing home.

Reminds me of the very first week that I was in training to become a CNA. I was sent in to feed this 93-year-old hospice patient, under strict instructions not to let him have the chocolate cake on his tray until he'd eaten at least half his meat and vegetables. It didn't take long for me to figure out that he wasn't going to comply with this edict; he was close to death, and he looked as though he hadn't eaten an actual meal in weeks. Then it hit me: who was I, a 35-year-old woman, to tell a man old enough to be my great-grandfather what he could and could not have?

So I asked him if he wanted to try a bite of chocolate cake. He nodded eagerly, and that first bite must have tasted heavenly, because he got this blissed-out look and gestured toward the cake to indicate he wanted more. Well, he not only finished the cake, but ate most of a second piece I managed to snag from the kitchen.........and when he died, later that very afternoon, he still had that same smile on his face.

Honestly, if a person hasn't earned the right to eat what they please by the age of eighty or ninety, when do they? Feed 'em what they want, and call it good.