Bayside Health Service has a new face on the wards, Megan Gaukroger, the hospital’s first Dietitian Assistant.
Megan has joined the team with part of her role designed to support patients maintain a healthy weight.
“It’s estimated that one in three adult hospital patients in Australia is malnourished,” Megan said.
“Often people have already been eating poorly because they’ve been unwell, before they are admitted to hospital.
“If someone has a low appetite or is only a small eater, I’ll recommend high-protein foods like eggs for breakfast or yoghurt for morning tea.
“These simple choices help protect muscle and prevent more weight loss while they recover.”
Dietitian Amanda Eldridge said Megan’s role was all about supporting dietitians so they could spend more time on complex care and research, while she helped with day-to-day patient nutrition.
“We take a food first approach, that means encouraging real foods that people are familiar with at home such as baked beans, dairy foods, meats, or fish – before turning to supplements.”
Megan is also taking part in Allied Health Research and Quality Improvement Development Program and will be leading a project to see how this new model of care helped free up dietitians to focus on more specialised treatment and quality projects.
All this comes as the team promoted Malnutrition Week this month. This year’s theme, 'the many faces of malnutrition', is a reminder that everybody plays a role in helping patients stay nourished and recover faster.