have you been on a special diet while in hospital?

Ivy - I called in for all meals for a day at once (I think it was the night before, but it's a bit of a blur).  Ordering a days worth of meals cut down the risk of forgetting to order.  If you weren't there to order (e.g., the first day in) and I assume if you forgot to call there were always some meals floating around, so you got one of those.  When that happened to me, the meal didn't fit my dietary needs.  The nurse called down to the kitchen and they sent up something that was better suited to my dietary needs.  I think you may have been able to order on a per meal basis, but the wait time was much longer.

Melissa

Roni, how exactly did they cater to all those groups' needs? Did they have separate menus printed for these people, or what?

I really am looking for specific logistical ideas here, and you're a good resource because it sounds as if you had a good experience.

ivy6 said...
Logistically, then, how do they do it?

Do you have a special menu sheet for each diet (or, in Croatia, for each medical condition)? Or is all this stuff programmed into the computer and does it automatically reject anything it thinks is unsuitable for you? Or do the nurses arrange all this and decide what works for you and what doesn't?

As you can probably tell, I'm sitting in on the hospital meetings about this. The staff have all sorts of information about what works at a bureaucratic & kitchen level, but not much info about what works and doesn't work from the patients' point of view, and that's why I'm asking: I'd like to be able to sound informed at the next meeting and be able to speak from more than my own experience.

At our hospital, there seems to be a basic menu for everybody, and they just remove from your plate anything you're not allowed to eat. A person on a special diet gets pretty hungry and cranky after a day or two of so little food!!!!!

Ivy.

well as I am aware it goes like this:
the doctors prescribe what you eat and you can discuss it with him every day while they do their visit to every patient ... he then notes any changes to your diet in the chart wich then the nurses give to the kitchen ... and thats it
the kitchen has fixed diet plans (for example: pancreas-1, colitis-1, high protein... etc), but if the doctor aproves something in the chart, you can get that also
its an ok system, but it lacks variety(there are no menus or lists) ... for example, there isnt too much choice ... every person in the hospital with a specific diet (example pancreas-1) is getting the same meal that day (or if the doctor aproved something else, then they can eat that too)... and we dont get "deserts" :) it saves the hospital money and personaly I don't mind since by saving that way they dont save on other important stuff

Post Edited (Escalador) : 5/21/2010 11:08:33 AM (GMT-6)

At my hospital, they do a low residue diet, and we're well catered for. BUT as stated by someone else,
by the time I get to eating, they're pushing me out the door (per my request, I can never wait to get home).
Therefore, I believe my insurance company is over paying, it's paying for room and board, all I ever get is
the room:) Lol

Bibi, what is so impressive about how they deal with different diets? Remember, I'm looking for ideas and info here so our hospital can copy them .

Thanks, Bibi; that's helpful.

Do you all think it helps a lot to have a choice of meals, or would you be happy to be on one basic meal for weeks at a stretch as long as it was safe?

(Me, I want choice and variety as well as safety!!).

choice and variety is always good but I can do without it in the hospital as long as what I eat is safe ..I don't expect the hospital to cater to my needs as a restaurant :)

OK, sounds like flexibility is important then?

People often don't fall rigidly within one diet, and a lot of patients seem to be getting frustrated when the kitchen staff refuses to vary their rules, e.g. providing a small amount of dairy when one says one is lactose intolerant?

Ivy.

I liked the variety, and the flexibility was awesome -- you could order anytime between (I think) 7am-7pm, and it would be delivered within 45 minutes! It was great for me because I am incredibly picky about what I want, and had I ordered it the day before, I probably wouldn't have wanted it the next day.

Yup. If you wanted breakfast at 4p.m. or a dinner food at 7a.m. you could get it. Full menu all day!