Site Swap Weeks

Over the past couple of weeks I had the opportunity to partner up with one of my fellow Coordinated Program classmates and show her around my site for a week and the following week she showed me her semester internship site.

The two sites could not have been anymore different.

During the week at my site, a hospital, we were able to deliver patient trays, take cookies to patients recovering from joint replacement surgery, taste test different nutritional supplements, help prepare food for an event and set up for the event taking place on the Friday.

Taste testing the nutritional supplements was an interesting experience. We tried all the available ones in stock, including the thickened liquids. Glucerna, Suplena, Ensure, Boost, Ensure Enlive, Boost Breeze, Thickened water, thickened apple juice and thickened milk. For the most part they tasted good, chocolate was our favorite flavor, the Enlive tasted like apple juice but had a very dark color, the Breeze tasted like super sweetened Kool-Aid, and the thickened liquids had a very interesting texture. But at least we have an idea for clinicals what to suggest to patients who need supplements.

During that week, much of our focus was on the event being held on that Friday, Doctor's Day. The hospital was hosting a lunch to thank all of the doctors for their hard work. It was an Italian Garden Theme with a Pasta Station, Carving Station, Cheese, Meats and Crackers, Dessert station and various Italian themed foods. The best display was an ice carving of a Gondola one of the chefs made in the kitchen, to hold the shrimp and oysters. They are truly talented chefs working at the hospital!!

Cutting the ice with a chainsaw



Before



The finished Gondola

The week spent with my partner was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed being able to see a site/facility so different from mine. It is cafe and catering company and most of the week was spent making deliveries to various locations throughout Fort Worth. Several of them were made to TCU campus and it was fun being able to be out and about during the work day. (I am so used to being indoors with fluorescent lighting) We also helped prep several dishes at the cafes for the deliveries and cafe service.

Of course I got to try some of their food, and my favorites were their chicken salad and of course the macaroni and cheese. YUM!!!

Tuesday was interesting, it was reported approximately 12 tornadoes touched down in the DFW area, but we had finished our deliveries before the storm really hit!! When our day was up, we made a run for the car in the torrential rain pour, it wasn't letting up anytime soon, so we got soaked, but we were laughing at the insanity! Luckily we missed most of the real damage from the storms.

Wednesday night we catered an event in Fort Worth. We helped set up the location: tablecloths, napkins, silverware, glasses and desserts, and throughout the event assisted in clearing dishes and replenishing food on the buffet line. I knew it was going to be a late night, and at the beginning I was slightly anxious about working such a large crowd, but the time flew by and everyone attending the event was very polite. (I honestly have no prior table waiting experience, so this was first real crack at it!)

I wish I could see every one's site and how they function, but there is definitely not enough time in one semester. That being said I am super glad I was partnered up with my partner! Overall it was great experience both weeks.

Just a few more weeks and I have one year of my internship completed!!

~Brittani

"Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice." ~Proverbs 27:9

Middle of Semester 2

We have recently been studying pharmacology and nutrient-drug interactions in my clinical nutrition class and a few things have stuck out to me. Whenever we discuss the medication Levodopa (L-Dopa) used for Parkinsion's disease it reminds me of the line in "Harry Potter" with the wingardium leviosa spell.

And we have been introduced to a medication derived from the always controversial marijuana plant, Marinol. Mainly used for cancer patients to increase appetitie, decrease nausea and give a euphoric feeling. Of course we all get a good laugh at this.

And our intestine lining have been compared to happy sea urchins sucking nutrients out of the food we digest.

And of course things like this now stick out to me:

Working at the hospital this semester with foodservice has given me some insight with patients attempting to "cheat" the diet order system and not be compliant with the diet best selected for them. We had a patient who needed to be on a low sodium, heart healthy diet, but refused and would choose instead to order chicken fingers, hamburgers, french fries, and multiple desserts. We also had a patient request to be on a "diet" menu and chose all the dessert options available. I assume they felt better about doing this since it was a "diet" menu.

One of my units that I recently completed involved taking physical inventory of the food and supplies. Part of inventory was done in the freezer, and brrrr it is cold in there, especially for more than 5 minutes. While literally "chilling" in the freezer, I was taking notes and realized the ink in my pen had frozen and I was unable to write. Proof that those walk in freezers are no joke and now I see why pencil is used instead of ink.

On a side topic, my husband and I just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! We stayed at the Gaylord Texan and were upgraded to a suite!!! (Sweet!!) It was so much fun and felt like a mini version of the honeymoon all over again. And of course, as tradition goes, we took a bite of our one year old wedding cake, and shockingly it was good!! Either the cake holds up really well, or I just did a really good wrapping job. (3 layers of saran wrap, 2 layers of foil and 2 airtight freezer bags.)

Up next: Site Swap!!!

~Brittani

"Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine." ~ 1 Timothy 5:23