Food and Nutrition launches new tray passing initiative

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Ask patients if they believe their surgeon did a good job or if their radiology study was interpreted properly and they might have a hard time answering.

Ask them about their food during their hospitalization and it’s an entirely different story – everyone seems to have an opinion.

The Backus Food and Nutrition Department this week launched a tray passing initiative to improve patient satisfaction with food, and lesson the workload for nursing staff. Food and Nutrition staff now deliver food trays to patients for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also monitor their food intake and handle any special needs that arise. This will allow nursing staff to concentrate more on clinical needs, and Food and Nutrition staff to concentrate on what they do best – food.

“The new tray passing process will definitely help – it’s time consuming for the PCTs and RNs, who are sometimes too busy to deliver meals,” said Julie Leese, RN, of the E-3 Progressive Care Unit.  “It’s very helpful to have the Food and Nutrition staff focus on the food aspect with checking dietary restrictions and passing trays.”

Previously, Food and Nutrition only gave patients trays for breakfast, and it was up to nursing staff to pass them for lunch and dinner, pick up the dirty trays at all three meals and help the patients with special needs such as opening containers.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Erin Loughrey, RN, A-4. “This helps the staff on the floor and reduces some of their responsibilities, giving them more time to spend on the patients’ other needs.”

Whitney Bundy, RD, Director of the Food and Nutrition Department, spearheaded the effort to convert tray passing from the nursing staff to her department. She said the new system has a number of advantages:

 Nursing is relieved of passing out lunch and dinner trays, picking up dirty trays, assisting with the patient pre-meal set up and delivering late trays at all three meals, allowing them to spend more time on clinical needs.
 There is more face to face contact between Food and Nutrition staff and the patients, which should help improve the patient experience. This allows more opportunities to get patient menu selections within an acceptable period of time from admission as well as deal with menu problems right on the spot, fixing them before they reach patients.
 Improved customer service. This includes better response time and taking care of immediate and long-term needs because Food and Nutrition staff are familiar with whom to go to in the kitchen and are specially trained on available food selections and basic diet information.
 Less waste. If food and menu preferences are obtained, less food will be wasted because of unwanted meals.
 A more positive patient experience at Backus, which patients may then communicate to people outside the hospital. Research indicates that patients perceive a more “home-like environment” when they are able to choose food items, their preferences are remembered and then presented to them (rather than just delivering it).

Mary Bylone, RN, Assistant Vice President of Patient Care Services, said the effort has been a huge undertaking, and that Food and Nutrition staff deserve credit for initiating it.

“It really has a positive impact for nursing and the patients,” Ms. Bylone said.

Bundy thanked her staff for all their hard work.

“Our staff has put a lot of time and effort into training and preparing for this initiative,” Ms. Bundy said. “Change can be difficult and they’ve dealt with it very well, they’ve really stuck with it for the good of our patients.”

To celebrate the change, nursing staff this week welcomed Food and Nutrition staff with signs, decorations and thank you’s on the floors.

“I think it’s great,” said Kim Armstrong, PCT, E-4. “This helps us pay more attention to helping patients. The Food and Nutrition staff are accurate and doing a great job.”