So my heart broke when I saw this patient....

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Critical Care.

I got a late admit last night of a elderly man who came from a SNF with a Femur Fx and was in serious pain...he had a MS pump and they were giving with..Any guesses !?!? More Morphine and was it working !? OF COURSE NOT..so i got a new order for dilaudid and that of course did the trick. When i was assessing this man tho my heart sank and in all honestly I'm not one to get even remotely emotional about things but this man looked sooo incredibly cachectic it was sad, i mean sad I could of nearly cried. You could see just about every bone on his body and I of course probed into why he was this way. He said I havent eaten in like a week because the food at the SNF is just not good and it's not appetizing to me. I nearly started to cry. I said to him, you know you need to eat in order to get better, I said you don't look good at all and I cant be having that. Apparently he used to be 100% independent before a fall that Fx'ed his femur and I guess he's kinda giving up on life. His wife in a SNF with dementia and I can see how he could be so depressed that he's just not eating anymore. So I promised him i would get him a bacon egg and cheese from McDonalds in the morning and i forgot to, so I'm going to go up at lunch time and get him something from boston market and hopefully he eats it...Has anyone else ever done this? Is this acceptable...I honestly could care less if I get into trouble for it, because as I sit here writing this my heart just literally aches for his man...ugh i just feel so bad....idk what to do....i just wish i could make him better instantly but i know that just isn't possible....:crying2:

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Specializes in School Nursing.

poor guy. i hope he improves. you are an angel for wanting to help him. you will definitely get your reward one day. god bless you :nurse: !!

praiser :heartbeat

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Yea I just felt so bad, sometimes you just wish to take away someones pain and suffering and I know you can't because it just unrealistic but sometimes i just wish i had that power for just one day.

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Specializes in Peds Homecare.

EMTRN6785.............that is what being a nurse in your heart is all about. God Bless you!

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Sneaking food to a patient is not a hanging crime. But you have to do it carefully. This is how you do it. First, don't tell anyone else. Just do it. Then when you come back, just walk into his room with the bag in your coat and let him know that it is your secret. Tell him to eat little bites, in case it doesn't agree with him.

Poor fellow! Thank you for feeding the hungry. Once his appetite is stimulated, he might eat more.

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Specializes in ER.

I know just how you feel. So many pts just break your heart- all you can do are the little extra things and try to make it better.

Food is such an issue for the elderly in general and when you add an illness, pain, and sadness on top of it it's a tough battle. I've had doctor's write orders- 'provide pt with whatever pt will eat'. Sometimes it was the only way to get dietary to comply with requests against the norm- such as a diabetic who's eating next to nothing and suddenly craves cake to a chemo pt who throws everything up except butter-pecan ice cream. It may not be the healthiest diet but in some cases, literally, any food is better then none.

Good for you!!

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Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

You are a very sweet, thoughtful person. As long as he can safely chew and swallow, bring it in. I am less concerned about a prescribed diet ( low salt, low cholesterol, etc) than I am about his physical abilities. Maybe that is why he doesn't enjoy his food - soft, pureed, or similar.

Do it!

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Specializes in LTC Family Practice.

Good for you, but I'd also set him up with the hospital dietician to see if they can make up a menu he will eat. I have a lot of food restrictions (no wheat, dairy, sugar, gluten ect.) and when I was in the last time, they really worked hard to prepair edible meals for me. With a Fx, he needs lots and lots of good food and I know most hospitals are really trying to get past the "hospital food" syndrome.

So let us know how he likes his Boston Market!

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Specializes in Med-surg ICU, Adult psych.

Go for it - I've gotten coffee for family members, scrounged up sandwiches and done emergency McD's runs when it seems needed.

It may seem small but I bet to him it will be huge.....bless you for being a nurse through and through :redpinkhe

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

I did that once as a brand new nurse, and I think I've related on here before. My pt was a young fellow, end stages of AIDS, was on isolation for all kinds of bugs, cachectic, in horrible neuropathy pain (on ridiculous amounts of morphine), and he knew he was dying. We bonded and I spent a bunch of time in his room when I was caught up with my other stuff on the floor.

At one point, he confided to me that what he wanted more than anything in the world was a Butterfinger. I didn't know what the hospital rules were on buying food for patients, being a brand new nurse. But rules be damned, on my break I went down to the gift shop & bought him a couple Butterfingers. Priceless was the look on his face. He died a couple weeks later.

Sometimes you just have to do things like that. Like a previous poster said - if he could chew/swallow with no problem, I would not lose a wink of sleep over it.

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.

i say go for it too!

i work SNF and i take people food all the time that are in that condition or have no family that will bring them treats.

i agree with not telling anyone you are doing it. when i take food, i just go in their room and give it to them privately. i was taking one patient a sausage biscuit and a paper every sunday for months before anyone knew i was the one bringing it. it was our secret, his and mine. it gave us both something to look forward to.

whatcha taking him from boston market?

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Yes....you can do it. Just do it.

I too work in a LTC and will bring in snacks for the residents. The food gets to be such a monotony. Yeah, we have menues that they rotate every few months, but geesh....it ain't like home cooking. We have a liberalized diets too. For ex..low sodium or cardiac diets are just no added salt diets.

There is no food like food from home or somewhere else.

Even tho it wasn't said...please don't assume that the LTC is abusing or neglecting him. We have a few res like that every so often. Severely depressed and refuses everything we do or try. Believe me...these people are well documented on too.

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