Complaints About Dietary Services
Contributed by Cindy K. Manjounes, MHA, EdD, Lindenwood
University.
Complaints from residents have started to surface regarding
availability and selection of items on the menu. Residents on
restricted diets as well as vegetarians have limited choices. The
facility offers a nonselective menu, but, to the extent possible,
accommodations are made. Recently, meal hours have been reduced
because of staff shortages in the dietary department. The
administrator was invited to this month’s resident council meeting in
which some residents became emotional, and the council’s president
stated, “We used to look forward to meal times, but things have gone
downhill. The hours have been cut and we are rushed through the
meals. Some of us are thinking about moving to another facility even
though we like the nurses here. They are really caring. We have
heard that the home has a new food service manager. This person
needs to straighten things out before we all leave.” Attendance in the
dining room has dropped because residents have started to request
in-room meal delivery so they can take the time to eat their meals.
Some CNAs have been grumbling about the extra work they have to
do to deliver meals and pick up afterwards.
Questions
1. Identify the main issues that need to be addressed. What may
have caused these problems?
2. Prioritize the issues based on their potential impact on the
residents, staff, and the facility. ( This part of the question requires impact of issues on each: resident, staff and facility)
3.How should the administrator go about addressing the issues
