Nursing Home Snacks

[TheCommuter]

What sorts of snacks are offered to the residents at the various facilities where you all work?

My current workplace offers peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pimento and cheese sandwiches, cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, graham crackers, bananas, yogurt, orange juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, and water.

I worked at a smaller hole-in-the-wall facility that offered potato chips, oreo cookies, milk, shakes, juice, and the occasional sandwiches.

[nursedawn67, LPN]

I have seen bowls of fruit, crackers, cheese curls, sandwiches, health shakes, small packages of cookies left for our residents and there is alway juice available.

[Speechie]

we are a large facility, and there are 5 "kitchenettes" with a fridge, microwave, coffeemaker, and toaster... there's always yogurt, pudding, applesauce in the fridge and juice, milk, and coffee ready... haven't heard any complaints about the snacks! now the meals sometimes...

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Snack at my facility are the cheapest things that they can find. Rumor is the snacks are only budgeted at 24 cents per resident. Our snack cart normally is passed by the CNAs around 8:30 pm and most residents are interested in getting something at that time.

Normally they put our a few containers of milk, a watered down powdered juice drink (left over from the afternoon juice cart) dry cereal in cups, saltines and graham crackers, and peanut butter sandwiches. We were told that we are not allowed to have meat sandwiches either. Cheese sandwiches would be a luxury. All of this seems to be dictated by the dietary department which is run by and outside company...$$$$ must keep within budget yah know!

[mvanz9999, RN]

All this talk about crappy snacks is making me feel bad. Saltines, graham crackers, watered down powdered drinks, juice crystals (I still don't know what this is), and no meat.

This is pathetic. You know, most other countries have a very, very, very, very high regard for their elderly. Here, they are thrown into a nursing home, discarded, avoided, etc.

My grandfather, shortly before he died from heart-attack complications, he said (in response to his children worrying about his near death)...."There's things much, much worse than dying". That's exactly what he was talking about. He would rather die than be in a nursing home.

Can't say I blame him.

[banditrn]

All this talk about crappy snacks is making me feel bad. Saltines, graham crackers, watered down powdered drinks, juice crystals (I still don't know what this is), and no meat.

This is pathetic. You know, most other countries have a very, very, very, very high regard for their elderly. Here, they are thrown into a nursing home, discarded, avoided, etc.

My grandfather, shortly before he died from heart-attack complications, he said (in response to his children worrying about his near death)...."There's things much, much worse than dying". That's exactly what he was talking about. He would rather die than be in a nursing home.

Can't say I blame him.

I've posted here before about the home where my son worked - when they were taken over by a corporation - ALL HS snack were stopped, so the staff took up a collection once a month to buy snacks for the residents.

I agree with your grandpa - I always thought I wouldn't mind being in a nursing home someday, but since I've worked in this one I've decided NO WAY. And from what I've heard some of the other girls say, this place is far better than many!!