Nutrition Assistants Skye and Doma
The new room service on demand at QEII Hospital is serving up a more personalised dining experience for patients with a side-serve of benefits.
During project planning, Nutrition Assistants Skye and Doma made sure no patient was left behind.
“We needed to make sure that we have more than one way for patients to be able to have equity and access the same system regardless of capability,” Skye said.
“Where they lacked capacity, our trained nutrition assistant team would come and give them support to access.”
They realised that some patients may not have been able to bring their hearing aids, mobile phones or other devices to hospital with them.
“It’s a new system for everyone,” Doma said.
“Previously we would come to the ward in the morning and take patient’s meal order, and the nurses didn’t have the visibility they do now.”
The Tray Monitor and Patient Flow systems allow nursing and nutrition staff to identify patients that may require assistance.
“We’ve developed a system through the programs that notifies us whether a patient may require assistance,” Skye said.
“There’s very simple integrated ways to communicate so we can support patients.”
The systems also give all staff visibility of what patients have ordered, when it’s been provided and whether they’ve received their meal. Missed meals are flagged so no patient ever goes hungry.
Nutrition Assistants actively monitor and cater for dietary requirements.
Optimised staff coverage ensures that patients get the opportunity to order separately for each of their meals, so patients no longer have to decide on their meal order 24 hours in advance.
“Each of us across the day will confirm the items are appropriate for each patient, as well as time in the call centre and in person on the ward taking orders,” Skye said.
“We are maintaining our skill making sure that patients are getting the best care in every aspect, and we continue to advocate in making sure the menu and quality is excellent”.