What you will not get on your hospital tray
My current preceptor compared hospital food to airplane food the other day, and it makes total sense. Both come on a tray and involve lots of stuff wrapped in plastic and the temperature is always a little…imperfect. At least in the hospital, you have slightly more options and it’s more likely to be more nutritious?
At the various sites I’ve worked in throughout the course of my internship, I’ve seen different styles of foodservice, but one thing we don’t do is room service-style meals (except—I think—in the amenities units). This piece highlights some of the reasons patients’ experience may be improved by being able to order what they want when they want it.
Which do you think is better/worse—hospital or plane food? Do you think room service-style is the way to go?
Hungry for more?
Subscribe to get the latest nutrition information, self-care strategies, and healthy living tips delivered right to your inbox.
I’ve never been on a flight long enough to warrant a meal, or had to stay in a hospital overnight, so I can’t make any personal comparisons.
When I toured St. Jude Children’s Research hospital a couple of years ago, our guide told my group that at St. Jude there is a chef on call 24/7 and he will make the kids absolutely anything they want. She said because the cancer treatments made them very nauseous being able to get whatever they want, whenever they want helps them retain weight and has been an asset to the hospital.
That’s so awesome that they do that! I feel like that’s especially important in oncology patients—even more so kids!
Do your patients complain about the food as much as ours do?? I never eat the plane food, but hope that hospital food is better? Although I’m really not confident in that statement… I think room service style would be awesome, but financially will probably never be possible at every place. The food is always such an issue though, I wish it were given more weight when budgeting, etc., you know?
It varies from site to site. The ones where the food is made the same day or rethermed on the floor, people seem to enjoy it more. I agree, the room service style probably wouldn’t be realistic for every hospital, even if it could help up the satisfaction.