MERRY CHRISTMAS CATCH UP

Hey everyone,

So here's the deal....I've had a lot less time to do this whole blogging thing than I anticipated. HOWEVER, I'm not a quitter! Also the whole purpose of this blog was to help people thinking about or applying to dietetic internships have a better idea of what to expect. I'm being optimistic that it's not just my family and friends reading this, but younger dietetic students as well, so I don't want to give up on them! With that said, I'm just going to travel back in time a little and try to catch y'all up so we can all enter 2011 on the same page!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Accommodating Obese Patients
Hospital takes extraordinary measures for supersized patients - at what cost?
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/accommodating-obese-patients-12187791?&clipId=12187791&playlistId=7981746&cid=siteplayer

Trying to catch up!!!

Now that my workload has decreased a bit, I’ll be able to catch y'all up on everything that’s been going on. Well actually, my workload is probably about the same, it’s just now I’m done with Food Service (WOOOHOOO!) so I don’t fall asleep the minute I get home. I actually worked out & did homework after rotation this week! It was amazing. I just finished my first clinical rotation (loved it!!) and I’m leaving TODAY for Boston for the Food & Nutrition Conference and Expo. Very excited about it and have lots to report on clinical, but that will have to wait until I get back on Monday. I need to fill you in on how Room Service “go live” went first!!

So I got through my midterm…aced it actually. Yes, I’m bragging but after what I went through the week before & after, I feel like I deserve that right. That includes my now infamous day of being in the kitchen from 7:00am-5:45pm….and interns are really only scheduled for 8 hr days. It was also the same day I was asked to run my fingers over every surface of the new kitchen equipment and mark every time I cut myself. And let me let you…I cut myself a lot!! Yeah it was pretty miserable, but fortunately my harp abilities provide me with calluses for protection. I should point out though that it was not my preceptor or any UAB employee who asked me to do this. This was still before “go live” and of course my preceptor was extremely busy and I just kind of helped everyone. It was one of the food coaches who asked me to do it, and I don’t really think he understood what a Dietetic Intern’s normal responsibilities are….like usually they don’t include self harm, lol!

Ok now to “go live” on Sunday….well everyone survived. They had something like 350 extra trays. It was crazy but it was bound to be. There are some kinks you just can’t work out until you get started. By the end of the week they were really getting it down. All of the food coaches had left and I started timing trays from print to patient’s room. UAB is currently a 1140 bed hospital (HUGE) so you can imagine some of these trays have to travel quite far to reach a patient’s room. The new Women’s Center is one of the furthest places away and I timed a tray the got to the patient in 25 minutes! That’s pretty awesome. There are still issues like never having enough menus and the call center not always remembering supplement orders, but I think they’ll get through it. Good job UAB Food Service! Below is a link to a little video made about the change to Room Service. 

Also just to provide that you do have time for fun as an intern and so my food service experience doesn’t scare anyone away, here’s a picture of me dressing up for Halloween. I was trying to get my cat in it with me so it’s a bit awkward but it also shows off my new haircut. 

October 17th 2010...GO LIVE @ UAB

"go live" is the term they've been using at UAB for the start of room service. It officially starts tomorrow @ 7 am. It's been an interesting yet incredibly exhausting week. Originally I was going to go in on Sunday so I could see everything happen. However not only do I have a midterm and a bunch of projects due on Monday...I'm sick!! Yeah can't say I'm surprised. Long hours, high stress,  & little sleep alway is the perfect combination for me getting sick. But back to the topic of UAB room service...I wish I could fully explain how big of a deal this is. No hospital this size has ever done this before, and if UAB's pulls it off, it's likely other major hospitals like John Hopkins & Mass General will be next. Local media and press came to do some filming on Thursday. An entire "room service coaching team" flew in on Wednesday. They've been helping UAB get ready for this. One of them said he got a bite from the NY Times so there's a chance they'll do a piece about it. The coaches crack me up. You've got each of your chef stereotypes...the posh french chef, the bad boy tattooed chef, the very very large chef, and the micro manager. :) But seriously, they're all great and such a help. So everyone keep your fingers crossed that I'm able to give you a positive report after Sunday!! Get ready!!

On a side note...I found this on the ADA website. When I applied everything was paper and pretty much a huge pain. This would probably have been quite helpful.

Welcome to UAB..Can I take your order?

Hello world!! Sorry it's been a while since I've written something on here. The semester is picking up and everything is just getting a little bit busier. The past few weeks I've been at UAB hospital completing my required Food Service rotations. I've already done Production, Management/Computers, and Finance. I have two weeks in Patient Services left that start next Tuesday. It's been an interesting experience so far, and much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Food Service is definitely my least favorite area of the dietetic scope of practice. However UAB hospital is about (like in a week!!!!) to transfer over to a room service style food service and it's quite the time to be an intern. Exciting yet extremely stressful at the same time. It's neat to see the preparation that goes into this process. I saw the final PDF for the menus and they look great. It really is like a 4-star hotel but it's a hospital...crazy huh? We "go live" meaning room service goes into effect on the 17th. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes! Will it be amazing or an epic failure? Still could go either way at this point....

This week I got lucky with a week at home. LOVE sleeping in (til 8am). I'm helping out one of our directors on a bunch of projects for the Alabama Dietetic Association website and other UAB things. If any of my work actually gets posted on the website, I'll post it here too!

You Only Live Once...YOLO!!!

Also you do have time for fun when you're doing your internship. I learned how to yolo last weekend. I rock! Plus I paddled out to dolphins! :)

long term care...DONE & DONE!

I finished my long-term care rotation this Friday. I saw and met a lot of very interesting “residents.” That’s what they call people who are in the nursing homes. Considering some have been there for their entire lives, I’d say it’s a pretty accurate term. Unfortunately because of HIPPA, I can’t tell y’all about some of the more interesting, sometimes comical things that occurred. I can and will say this though….I have always had a lot of respect for nurses (my mom is one after all) but some of the nurses that I met were truly saints. They showed such compassion and kindness to the residents, which can be very trying at times. It’s hard to keep a smile on and be patient day in and day out when you might have a resident who has Alzheimer’s and becomes aggressive because they don’t know where they are or simply one who wants to tell you the same story every day. The nurses I spoke with didn’t just know the diagnoses and medical history of the residents, they knew the lives and stories, the kind of stuff you only learn by taking the time to listen. I thought this would be a very depressing rotation, but I was touched by the kindness I saw. My preceptor could have easily completed her work much sooner each day, but she didn’t because she goes to several different nursing homes and always walks around first, chatting with the residents, simply being friendly and asking them how their week as been. I have learned from this rotation that what makes or breaks a rotation is the preceptor. Fortunately I’ve been very lucky with the two I’ve had so far! Our director does always emphasize how wonderful UAB’s preceptors are, so I just hope I continue on the same path I’ve been on.

Another note I want to point out, I thought I’d die and be completely overwhelmed this year. However I think I’m doing pretty ok. I’m very busy for sure, but I don’t think people should be as nervous about starting as I was. I’ve been in Birmingham a full month now and I haven’t called home crying once!! Those of you who know me better understand the full meaning of the statement. ☺