A home visit with a Home Enteral Feeding Dietitian
Written by Lyndsey, Home Enteral Feeding Dietitian
As a Home Enteral Feeding Dietitian, I carry out home visits to monitor people who are tube fed in their own home.
People are tube fed for a variety of reasons and clinical conditions, but it would usually be because a person can’t eat orally, or because they are unable to eat enough orally to maintain their weight and nutritional status.
We typically review people every 3-6 months, to ensure their tube feed is still being tolerated, and to make any changes that may be needed. We do this by checking the persons anthropometric measurements – which might include weight, hand grip strength and mid upper arm circumference. We would also ask questions about how the persons bowels are, if they are passing urine well, if they have any nausea, vomiting or reflux, how their skin is and how their health has been. We would also find out how their feed is fitting into their life and if it is causing any practical challenges. All this information helps us decide if any changes are needed.
We also check that the feeding tube itself is working well and if the skin surrounding the tube is healthy. If we have any concerns, we would speak to the persons GP, district nurse or nutrition nurse, for further advice.
Home enteral feeding is an area of dietetics that I really enjoy working in. No two visits are the same and it provides a varied and challenging caseload. You get to know the people you work with very well and you can have a really positive impact on their quality of life.
I also enjoy working with other health care professionals such at speech and language therapists, GP’s, district nurses and care staff.