The nursing home dining assistant program: a demonstration project.

The purpose of this study was to extend earlier research on the dining assistant (DA) federal regulation allowing trained non-nursing staff to provide feeding assistance care in nursing homes. Observations were conducted pre- and post-implementation, with periodic observations during implementation. To assess sustainability, data were analyzed at 12 months post-implementation.

Resident complaints about the nursing home food service: relationship to cognitive status.

Most nursing home (NH) residents are not interviewed about their satisfaction with the food service due to cognitive impairment. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of NH residents able to complete a structured interview to assess food complaints when no cognitive status criteria were used to exclude residents from interview. Eighty-nine percent of 163 residents were able and willing to complete the interview, and 65% expressed complaints about the NH food service.

Developing leadership skills in critical care nurses: a case scenario--part one.

During a recent CACCN board meeting, directors were challenged with developing an approach to a difficult case scenario. In a situation where inappropriate communication toward a new nurse was observed and reported directly to the charge nurse, participants identified that before responding, the charge nurse should seek out additional information to identify the problems causing the behaviour. Possible core problems included lack of clarity around the roles and responsibilities, plus the lack of training on preceptorship and the principles of effective communication.