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Hospitals and feeding policies
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,722 Bot
My nana has been in hospital for four months now after a pretty bad stroke. She cant walk, hasnt the energy to talk more than one word answers and needs to be fed. Yesturday I spoke to my grandad and he said that she wasnt eating cos she kept saying no. I went in to see her around dinner time to make sure she eats cos I'm used to feeding old stubburn women who say no to food.
My nan did say no to the food at first but when I put it up to her mouth she ate it. Then when I went to give her another spoonful she said no again, but I noticed that she was forgetting to swollow after she'd chewed, so I reminded her to and when she had (about a min later) she ate some more of her dinner. In the end it it took me an hour and a half to get her to eat all her dinner and during that time I had to explain twice to the nurses that she was going to eat all her food and not to take it away.
It worries me that after half an hour of my nan eating her dinner (she's just about finished her soup which is the first course) the nurse's tried to take the food away from her, if I hadnt told them no (or been there at all) my nana wouldnt have had any food that day. And they wonder why she's not improving :rolleyes: How is she ment to have the energy to do her physo if they arnt helping her to eat her food. She's getting tired from just chewing so it takes her a while. I cant be expected to go in twice a day everyday, not only do I have to help my mum pack up the house cos were moving next week but I seriously cannot afford to go in that often when its £3 parking a time. Also arnt there Health Care Assistants who are paid to do this kinda thing?
My nan did say no to the food at first but when I put it up to her mouth she ate it. Then when I went to give her another spoonful she said no again, but I noticed that she was forgetting to swollow after she'd chewed, so I reminded her to and when she had (about a min later) she ate some more of her dinner. In the end it it took me an hour and a half to get her to eat all her dinner and during that time I had to explain twice to the nurses that she was going to eat all her food and not to take it away.
It worries me that after half an hour of my nan eating her dinner (she's just about finished her soup which is the first course) the nurse's tried to take the food away from her, if I hadnt told them no (or been there at all) my nana wouldnt have had any food that day. And they wonder why she's not improving :rolleyes: How is she ment to have the energy to do her physo if they arnt helping her to eat her food. She's getting tired from just chewing so it takes her a while. I cant be expected to go in twice a day everyday, not only do I have to help my mum pack up the house cos were moving next week but I seriously cannot afford to go in that often when its £3 parking a time. Also arnt there Health Care Assistants who are paid to do this kinda thing?
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Comments
I would consider speaking to ward sister rather than a staff nurse.
I think in this instance they would take to feeding her artificially through feeding tubes to maintain her life.
"and then the nurses must surely force them to eat just to keep them alive whetehr its against their wishes or not"
No we musn't! Would you force someone to have surgery or take a medicine? It is their bodies and can do whatever they please. Unless they are sectioned under the mental health act or deemed incapable of making decisions - only then can they be forced to do anything against their wishes.
I've had to stay there and as you know the staff are useless.
Bit of a generalisation there...
I really feel for Zella's nana but I honestly think that comments like this are unhelpful. As a collective hospital staff do an amazing job under strict time and monetary pressures that they are forced to deal with my management. Individual staff may not be up to much on occassion but it's like that in any organisation.
Although I am not condoning that...and don't know the full story- they have other patients to deal with. I work in many different wards throughout a large general hospital. The qualified nurse to patient ratio is uniformly 1:12 and once I worked in a ward where it was 1:24
Shite - yes but what can they do? If someone takes unwell - or someone is at the end of their life - they are their priority.
The sad reality is that wards are understaffed and the staff that are there are doing their best [I hope] under this situation.
But as with all walks of life - you blame the person you can see and not the cause of the problem - management and government.
She ate ok today, kinda...She tried to eat the plate
You know you could put a complaint in writing or ask for a talk with the ward sister/manager.
Be best if your mum/dad was with you as her next of kin though.
I'd suggest you get onto the nurses all the time, even if you feel like your being a pain! Ring them up every dinner/tea time if you have to.
Oh we don't like that.
To try and get most of our tasks completed - they have to rush around. How long was that man waiting? When dinners are given out I start where they start and work my way around... this means that they may be waiting a wee while, while I feed the other patients.
Wouldnt it be great...never gonna happen but it would be great not only for the overworked staff but for the patients... I feel that when a patient is talking to me... I am edging away because I have a hundred and one other things to do... would be great to sit down and talk to them.
Actually, you chose the easiest target. For the patient it's the person they see in front of them.
For nurses its management.
Seldom does either actually look at their own responsibility to make sure that they are doing all they can to make things easier...
Actually it would be better if we practiced preventative medicine, rather than reactive medicine...
It is widely known that cost cutting is rife in the NHS...but please do not make the generalisation that just because of this the majority of staff are not willing to put in the effort to do the best for their patients. I'm a staff nurse and i know that everyone on my ward, despite us being short staffed, will always go the extra distance to ensure the best patient care. To be perfectly honest, we may be overworked, but even so, if a nurse cannot be bothered to put the extra effort in to do more for their patients, they probably shouldn't be in this profession. Funding will always be an issue, but, in my personal experience, it does not effect the nurses attitude towards their patients care. Funding is way out of the control of nurses, it may effect the patient to nurse ratio, but not their attitude...we get the funding we get and make the most of it...if you have an attitude like this, I'd advise you not to go into nursing :shocking:
He was there a long time, very long time. Put it like this, my grandad wasnt eating fast, he was on his pudding when my grandma decided she would feed him. The nurses saw the man struggling - trying to pick his fork up and they did sweet F.A. :impissed:
And the Mental Health Act only applies to mental illness. It can't be used to provide any other treatment, including feeding or surgery. Patients deemed incapable of informed consent can be treated under common law for emergency treatments, and with the consent of the NOK for other therapy.