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