Hungry to be heard: Auburn Hospital staff deliver innovative nutrition project

Staff from Auburn Hospital’s temporary short stay unit recently shared their project on improving patients’ nutrition at the Agency for Clinical Innovation’s aged health collaborative forum, held at Liverpool Hospital.

The unit, which caters to patients transitioning from acute care into nursing homes, used feedback from patients and their families/carers to create strategies to improve patients’ nutritional intake.

The new initiatives included ensuring the correct meals were delivered to the correct patients, redesigning nursing meal times and ensuring patients have minimal disruption during meals.

All patients’ nutritional status is also now screened on admission to the unit, including whether they need assistance at mealtimes.

The changes have improved patients’ nutrition – adequate nutrition is vital to all patients, particularly the elderly, as it prevents complications like pressure injuries and poor wound healing, and allows patients to be discharged in a timelier manner.

Congratulations to the unit’s Rajwinder Kaur and Cheryl Frost for an informative presentation, along with the unit’s team for a project focused on providing excellent patient care.