Research Showcase Abstracts
Explore abstracts from CFDR’s annual research showcase at the DC Conference.
Year
2017
Language
English
Title
Nutritional supplements: How much?
Introduction/Purpose
Nutrition care in the elderly population is extremely important when considering overall health. At Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Veterans Centre, Nurses, Registered Dietitians (RDs) and Food Service Supervisors (FSS) collaborate in an effort to maximize nutritional care. Residents are assessed for nutritional risk to provide guidance for individual nutritional interventions. Nutritional supplements and snacks are a type of intervention prescribed by an RD. In an effort to increase awareness of this type of intervention, improve communication between disciplines and increase resident nutritional intake, RDs, FSS, Nursing and the Electronic Documentation Team (EDT) collaborated to improve the documentation and communication of the delivery and consumption of prescribed nutritional supplements and snacks.
Objective(s)/Process or Summary of Content
To report on a new electronic documentation initiative that has made a significant impact on nutrition assessments and interventions.
Method(s)/Systemic Approach Used
An interprofessional team that included: RDs, FSS, Nursing and the EDT, met to discuss and create an expanded electronic program designed to capture intake of specific nutritional supplements and snacks prescribed by the RD. Nursing staff who would be documenting in this new program, were invited to trial the suggested changes and provide feed back to the team. Several months prior to the launch date, Nursing staff, Advance Practice Nurses and Patient Care Managers were provided information and education regarding the new documentation. On February 1st 2016 the Point of Care documentation system was rolled out to include new configurations to record consumption of prescribed nutritional supplements and prescribed snacks.
Conclusions(s)/Recommendations
The new documentation on intake of prescribed nutritional supplements and prescribed snacks has enhanced nutrition assessments and interventions. It has also provided more accurate information to make timely adjustments to Resident's nutrition care plans and has strengthened communication between nursing and nutrition staff. This initiative has provided excellent opportunities for interprofessional communication and collaboration with an overall impact on improving patient-centred nutritional care.
