VI. Taking Food (NUTRITION)

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Florence Nightingale, 1860

🧠 MNEMONIC: FEED PATIENT

Food timing is critical
Every hour may be needed for weak patients
Early morning solids impossible for most
Don't leave food standing by patient

Punctuality can save lives
Anticipate times of faintness
Try small amounts frequently if rejected
Ingenuity in feeding prevents starvation
Even ten minutes delay matters
Nutrition in chronic cases often neglected
Take away uneaten food promptly

VI. Taking Food

📌 SHOCKING FACT FOR EXAMS

"Thousands of patients are annually starved in the midst of plenty, from want of attention to the ways which alone make it possible for them to take food."

🎯 EXAM FOCUS: Timing Rules

Very weak patients: Cannot take solid food before 11 AM
Morning mouth: Dry from feverish nights — solids would be worse
Better approach: Spoonful of beef-tea, arrowroot and wine, egg flip EVERY HOUR
If stomach rejects: Try tablespoon every hour → teaspoon every 15 minutes

⚡ LIFE HANGS UPON MINUTES

In very weak patients, nervous difficulty of swallowing increases with any other call on strength. Delay of ten minutes may become delay of two or three hours. Life often literally hangs upon these minutes.

📋 CRITICAL RULES

Never leave untasted food by patient's side — prevents eating at all, disgusts them of everything
Food at right time, taken away at right time — eaten or uneaten
Patient should not see more food than his own — not see/smell others' food, not hear food talked about

📌 CHRONIC CASES

In chronic cases lasting months and years, fatal issue often determined by protracted starvation. Consulting hours when patient can take food, observing times of faintness, altering seasons of taking food — this constitutes the good Nurse.

💡 Memory Tip: Remember "CLOCK" — Consistency in timing, Liquid first, Observe patient's patterns, Chronic cases need extra care, Keep nothing standing by.

📝 Key Takeaways for NCLEX

Timing is critical - life hangs upon minutes
Very weak patients need food EVERY HOUR
Never leave untasted food by patient's side

🧠 Mnemonic Summary

CLOCK: Consistency in timing, Liquid first, Observe patterns, Chronic cases need care, Keep nothing standing

Source: Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not, Florence Nightingale, 1860. First American Edition.