Hello from lowcountry! My name is Laura Heineman and I am completing both my food service management and clinical rotations at Grand Strand Medical Center (GSMC) in Myrtle Beach, SC. My home is in Charleston, SC, so after the completion of my first two rotations, I plan on finishing the rest of my rotations in the Charleston area. I will admit, I was filled with anxious jitters prior to starting clinical; mostly because I knew what I learned from the book was a whole different ballgame than being in a patient’s room.
GSMC is a 300-bed facility with three RDs and one certified diabetes educator (CDE). One of the dietitians left for maternity leave the week before I began my clinical rotation, so the grace period for shadowing and training was cut a little shorter than usual and I was forced to jump in the deep end. As terrifying as that was, it was probably the best scenario that could have happened. My previous jitters were put on the back burner; there literally was no time for hesitations or anxieties. Since my first week, I have become so much more confident in the clinical arena and have learned so much more because of it.
One of the biggest concepts the RDs at the hospital stress is that the patients we are seeing are going to remember maybe 40% of what is told to them while they're in the hospital. Unfortunately, most of that 40% is going to be from their physician and nursing interactions, with not much more room for us. On top of that, many patients aren’t necessarily interested in what we may have to say due to their health status, what they may be facing, or their lack of knowledge of how diet relates to their disease. It won’t be until the patient returns home and gets back to their regular routine that they will benefit from talking to us, and at that point, our moment of education opportunity has passed. After speaking about this with the RDs, we identified the most common diseases/conditions in our hospital that are associated with necessary diet modifications; stroke, heart failure, diverticulitis, new to dialysis, and conditions requiring a low residue diet. These are the patients that we felt could benefit the most from receiving a take-home handout on how their diet relates to their condition, what adjustments they may need to make to their diet, goals to aim for, and helpful information pertaining to their condition. This way, we feel more confident signing off on patients that need to implement dietary restrictions or alterations after only being able to speak to them maybe once while they were in the hospital. They are able to physically take home our portion of that 40% with them and not have to rely on memory or leave them Google searching.
With this rotation and project, I was humbly reminded that patients are people. They have families, they have friends, they have lives outside of what we see. I was reminded that being in their position can be terrifying and that the majority of patients may not fully understand what it is they are being diagnosed with. Being able to appreciate these realities will immensely help us as healthcare professionals and provide the best care to each and every patient.
GSMC is a 300-bed facility with three RDs and one certified diabetes educator (CDE). One of the dietitians left for maternity leave the week before I began my clinical rotation, so the grace period for shadowing and training was cut a little shorter than usual and I was forced to jump in the deep end. As terrifying as that was, it was probably the best scenario that could have happened. My previous jitters were put on the back burner; there literally was no time for hesitations or anxieties. Since my first week, I have become so much more confident in the clinical arena and have learned so much more because of it.
One of the biggest concepts the RDs at the hospital stress is that the patients we are seeing are going to remember maybe 40% of what is told to them while they're in the hospital. Unfortunately, most of that 40% is going to be from their physician and nursing interactions, with not much more room for us. On top of that, many patients aren’t necessarily interested in what we may have to say due to their health status, what they may be facing, or their lack of knowledge of how diet relates to their disease. It won’t be until the patient returns home and gets back to their regular routine that they will benefit from talking to us, and at that point, our moment of education opportunity has passed. After speaking about this with the RDs, we identified the most common diseases/conditions in our hospital that are associated with necessary diet modifications; stroke, heart failure, diverticulitis, new to dialysis, and conditions requiring a low residue diet. These are the patients that we felt could benefit the most from receiving a take-home handout on how their diet relates to their condition, what adjustments they may need to make to their diet, goals to aim for, and helpful information pertaining to their condition. This way, we feel more confident signing off on patients that need to implement dietary restrictions or alterations after only being able to speak to them maybe once while they were in the hospital. They are able to physically take home our portion of that 40% with them and not have to rely on memory or leave them Google searching.
With this rotation and project, I was humbly reminded that patients are people. They have families, they have friends, they have lives outside of what we see. I was reminded that being in their position can be terrifying and that the majority of patients may not fully understand what it is they are being diagnosed with. Being able to appreciate these realities will immensely help us as healthcare professionals and provide the best care to each and every patient.
