Second to Last Week at Craven

I can't believe that I'm almost done working at Craven. Today one of the dietitian's was off and I took over her floors. It was so super busy but I got it done eventually. One of her floors is Oncology and I have to say it is my least favorite unit I have worked in. I feel like there is very little we can do for the patients that I have seen here. That may be because it is inpatient and not outpatient. One man I saw today was actively in the process of dying and on comfort care so there was nothing we could do, he couldn't even drink water without choking. Another man was wasting away and wouldn't eat or talk. I do feel like I helped one lady who just got a PEG, I managed to find a supplement that she really liked and would be willing to drink in addition to her PEG feedings.

One of my favorite areas has been the ICU and Surgical Floor, because despite the really sick and sad situations of many of the patients, I feel that our nutrition support recommendations can really help out the patients. One thing this summer that has really frustrated me though is the lack of communication between disciplines in the hospitals. There are no rounds meetings except in rehab and it is hard to gain comprehensive information on the patient from the charts. Nurses get very frustrated trying to talk to everyone that has questions for them because of a lack of interdisciplinary communication. I was surprised to find that even the ICU here does not have rounds, but my RD and I have been working on a project, aimed at designing a checklist and format to start interdisciplinary ICU rounds due to some clear communication problems that have emerged.