People often ask, what does a clinical dietitian do? Everyone knows that, yes, they know the right things to eat, and items you should limit. Did you know that is the easy part? And probably not the part we spend the most time on.
In the hospital, patients are kept from eating for procedures, surgery, and due to gastrointestinal symptoms. If they are allowed to eat, often they can't eat what they need to due to a plethora of things- no appetite, taste changes, getting full too quickly, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, too sleepy, confused... the list goes on and on. If they are eating the amount they need, are they able to absorb it all? This is what we as dietitians spend a lot of time doing. Removing the barriers preventing our patients from getting their nutrition... from food or formula.
If our patients are on tube feeding, understanding the tube is an essential component of getting in the feeding. If I have a patient with a leaking tube site, sore skin around the tube, or pain with the tube... they probably are not going to be getting in the feedings they need. Care and understanding of the tube itself can often be overlooked. Especially in patients that are no longer in the hospital. Many patients are started on tube feeding outside of the hospital, so do not have the "team" checking on their tube site every day and troubleshooting any issues. They do not have anyone ensuring they are getting 100% of their prescribed formula and water. They may be trying to do this on their own (or with a caregiver) at home, but they have never seen a tube before! What happens when the patient has diarrhea after a feeding? Or can only get in half of their feeding before not feeling well?
To that end, Oley did a wonderful job overviewing some of the issues we look at as clinicians. And as patients too!
Check out Mary Kuehl, RD's presentation:
Managing skin problems and Other Complications.
Another excellent presentation was by Cynthia Reddick, RD who I just recently had the pleasure of meeting. Her presentation is FULL of great information and show-and-tell on various tube types, tube adapters (including enfit), button tubes, tubes for venting gastric contents with drainage bags, and more! I loooove hands on information like this. Again, if you can't get the nutrition through the tube, it's not doing anyone any good. This is where dietitians and other home feeding clinicians can really help the patient. Often tubes are placed in facilities without anyone "owning" the tube in the long run. Who do patients turn to when they need help troubleshooting their tubes?
Check out Cynthia's presentation:
Show and Tell with Feeding Tubes and Connectors
All of these presentations, and more are found on the Oley website.
As always, if you don't have anyone helping you manage your tube and/ or your tube feedings, contact us at ENTERAL! We would love to help support you in your nutrition journey!
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