Dining has been a hot topic issue over the last week.
From Director of Nursing, “…Patti is now seated in the assist dining room rather than the main. I'm told that this move was made because she requires frequent cues to slow down, and because she often vomits at the table when she eats too quickly and that the other residents dining with her in the main room were distressed by this….
…In the assist dining room; since residents there are deemed at greater risk for choking and require much more assistance with their meal consumption, we are staffed with at least 2 nurses and roughly 5 or 6 nurse aides and others specifically trained to feed. (versus 1 licensed staff person, 1 nurses aide, and kitchen staff who also serve meals in main dinning room.)…”
… Patti was evaluated by the speech therapist here, and regardless of the etiology of her coughing/choking/vomiting episodes, there was evidently no program they could suggest from which she could benefit to alleviate those episodes. Given that she requires more help and more direct supervision, it is felt that we can best protect her and meet her needs by placing her in the dining room where there is a far greater number of staff to take care of her. …"
Patti absolutely MUST be monitored and assisted when eating, I agree 100% with the change and was unaware the main dining room offered such minimum assistance.
Whenever I dropped in to observe obviously I was 'there' and assisted her in eating so I was masking any problems. This is an excellent example of how it can take quite awhile before the transiton from home care to 24/7 care can get on the same page.
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