- Creating Diet Interventions for Fluid Restrictions
- Why it is Not Recommended to Use the Fluid Restriction Option
Creating Diet Interventions for Fluid Restrictions
A fluid restriction for a resident/patient restricts their fluid intake to a measured limit. For example, 1500 ml/day.
The method to put a resident/patient on a fluid restriction is by customizing the resident/patient's personal menu to restrict the fluid quantity, which in turn can efficiently be accomplished by using a diet intervention.
For each fluid restriction level that is ordered at your facility, create a corresponding diet intervention as follows (see Creating a Diet Intervention):
- Name the diet intervention for the fluid restriction level. For example "1500 ml/day".
- Select all diet/texture type combinations for the diet intervention (so that it is available to any resident/patient assigned that diet/texture type combination).
- Add the "standard" customizations that are applicable for the fluid restriction level. For example, on a strict fluid restriction, you can remove the menu category Juice at breakfast (via the "do not serve" customization), while on a less strict fluid restriction, you can serve a half-portion of the Juice category at breakfast (via the serving size adjustment customization).
Note: Your facility may prefer to directly customize a resident/patient's personal menu rather than using a diet intervention. If so, then the diet intervention is still required, but it can remain blank (i.e., without customizations), and as such will be name-only for identification purposes on tickets/menus.
Assigning a Fluid Restriction Diet Intervention to a Resident/Patient
With the fluid restriction diet intervention created, you can then assign it to the resident/patient (see Assigning a Diet Intervention to a Resident/Patient).
Printing Name of Fluid Restriction Diet Intervention on Tickets/Menus
The diet intervention name can be printed on the following people reports (by selecting the Diet Intervention check box) to inform staff of the fluid restriction for the resident/patient:
- Tray Card Ticket Report (People) - lists Dietary Needs (no Food)
- Tray Menu Tickets Report (People) - for Non-Select & Advance Ordering
- Person-Specific Select Menus Report (People) - for Table Select & Advance Ordering (screenshot below)
- Snack Delivery Worksheet (People)
- Stickers (People) - for Personal Items, Snacks or Identification
Why it is Not Recommended to Use the Fluid Restriction Option
The current and recommended method to implement a fluid restriction for a resident/patient is via a diet intervention, as per above instructions.
The previous method to implement a fluid restriction--and which is no longer recommended--was to use the fluid restriction option, explained as follows:
- On the fluid substitution grid, there is a Fluid Restriction column for you to enter the ideal portion size for each fluid recipe.
(Right-click image to open and expand in new tab)
- From the Fluid drop-down on a resident/patient profile, there is the Fluid Restriction option (screenshot below). Selecting this option would add to the personal menu what is configured on the Fluid Restriction column from the fluid substitution grid (as per screenshot above).
Because the Fluid Restriction option is not a fluid type, but instead "piggybacks" off the fluid type functionality in the system, it is not intuitive and therefore cumbersome to implement. But aside from that, if the Fluid Restriction option is selected from the Fluid drop-down for a resident/patient, you cannot then assign the resident/patient a legitimate fluid type.
In the future, the Fluid Restriction option will be removed from the system.
Therefore, for the above reasons, please use a diet intervention to implement a fluid restriction.