Hello from San Francisco!

Hi ladies,

I've been having a great time over here! Not only because I love this area (believe me, I LOVE this city), but also because the first few days have been good. This week has been orientation/settling-in week for me. Like a lot of you noted, I'm learning how to use the computer system at this hospital. It feels like a foreign language at times.

The SF VA has about 100 beds inpatient, and 100 beds in the nursing homes, or Community Living Centers (CLCs), to be more politically correct. There are 3 RDs and 4 diet technicians, along with 2 interns and a few volunteers. Evryone has been so nice and welcoming.

I spent the first two days with diet technicians as they screen newly admitted patients and categorize them based on nutritional risk/status (mildly comprmised, moderately (low and high), and severely compromised). I also had a teaching part in a class that one of the diet techs is responsible for, on fast foods and portion control - I facilitated an interactive guessing game of how portion sizes have changed over the last 20 years.The rest of the time, I spent shadowing some RDs on their visits to patient's rooms, checking up on them on how they're eating, and plans after discharge.

I did a little bit of nutrition education on heart-healthy/diabetic diet for a patient, who was somewhat a difficult old man who had his own philosophies about eating right. I wrote my first note yesterday! The SF VA uses the SOAP form, something that I had to get used to, but was easy to adjust to. I can't wait to write more notes.

I will be with the Renal RD next week, and am looking forward to seeing more things in this hospital. Have a good week!