Mealtimes for residents on renal diets can pose challenges
Tuesday October 23, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Ensuring residents who receive kidney dialysis treatment are being properly nourished can be a balancing act, says Judy Schell, nutritional care manager (NCM) at Pleasant Meadow Manor.

There are two residents at the Norwood long-term care home who are on renal diets. These diets are designed for people with kidney problems. Renal diets exclude foods which force the kidneys to work harder.

This means foods rich with potassium, sodium and phosphorus are left out, or reduced, from the diet of a resident receiving kidney dialysis.

One the biggest difficulties, says Schell, is making all staff members in the home aware of the fact that these residents must avoid certain types of foods.

“The challenges with that are to make sure that they get their proper foods, because it’s a little different from the regular diets,” says Schell. “(We have to) make sure that the nurses aren’t giving them the wrong thing when we make up the plates at this end, and to make sure they get what they’re supposed to have.”

To make sure a resident receiving kidney dialysis doesn’t get served the wrong type of food, Schell says the home has steps in place to mitigate errors.

Included on the nutritional care department’s production sheet is a section on renal diets. Residents get two choices of foods they can have and then the cooks prepare the meal for them.

Another step taken to ensure the two residents on renal diets get the right food is to prepare the item and then cover it with a label with the resident’s name on it.

“We just have to watch and make sure that when the health-care aides are serving those two people, that we know what tables they’re at,” says Schell.

A person receiving dialysis treatment needs to be well-nourished with restricted fluids. To make sure these residents have their strength, the home’s nutritional care department packs lunch and a snack for the two residents when they go for dialysis.

The residents receiving dialysis are also encouraged to help with the process of making sure they’re eating the proper foods and abstaining from those which could cause them problems.

“One of the residents . . . is really with his diet, and I’ve given him all the renal sheets, so it also shows to him what he can and can’t have,” says Schell.