Long Term Care RD

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Long Term Care RD

📗 Helping Long Term Care Dietitians Thrive
🔗 Free Resources: LongTermCareRD.com
🔗 Membership: ClinicalNutrition.com

08/27/2026

There is not one single reason that seniors struggle to eat

You need to treat every person as an individual, but there are a few areas that should be looked at to find the cause

Here's a few that I have found are the 'typical' reasons someone struggles to eat:

- Dental issues (loose dentures, mouth sores, missing teeth, tooth infection)
- Chewing/swallowing issues AKA Dysphagia
- Disease progression such as Dementia or other cognitive issues
- Medication changes affecting appetite
- Increased fatigue if meals take too long
- Social issues (missing loved ones at meals, no one to eat with)
- Vision issues (glasses not put on at meals, decreasing vision)
- Needs more physical activity to increase appetite (even someone in a wheelchair can get some physical activity)
- Taste changes

All of these can be addressed in different ways to increase and improve intake.

Want to know more? Check the article linked in the comments!

08/24/2026

Our latest video is up on YouTube now!

Check it out and learn exactly what I think of the current BMI system for older adults

https://youtu.be/A7mmRhkMnPk

08/21/2026

“They eat fine.”

You hear it from nursing.

You hear it from family.

Sometimes you even hear it from the resident.

And then you look at the weights and think…

Wait a minute. 🤨

This is why I don't think we can rely on one piece of information when assessing nutrition.

Maybe they're eating 75–100% of their meals…

…but they're only taking a few bites of the protein.

Maybe they're eating well at breakfast but barely touching lunch and dinner.

Maybe they're drinking coffee and juice all day but very little actual food.

Maybe the portions are too large.

Maybe they're too tired to eat by dinner.

Maybe they need more assistance than they're getting.

Maybe the food texture isn't working for them.

“Eating fine” doesn't tell you much.

As the dietitian, our job is to dig a little deeper.

Look at the weights.

Look at the intake.

Talk to nursing.

Talk to the resident.

Look at what's actually happening at meals.

Then put the pieces together.

Because sometimes the most important part of nutrition assessment isn't asking:

“Are they eating?”

It's asking:

“What does their eating actually look like?”

And that is where the clinical reasoning starts.

08/20/2026

I think a lot of dietitians are afraid of survey because they think they need to know EVERYTHING.

Every regulation.

Every policy.

Every possible question a surveyor could ask.

But that's not really what being a good LTC dietitian is about.

It's about consistently doing the things you've already been trained to do.

Assess your residents.

Identify problems.

Implement interventions.

Follow up.

Document your clinical reasoning.

Update the plan when things change.

Use the Nutrition Care Process.

Over and over again.

That's why I wanted to talk about survey readiness on this week's podcast.

Because I don't think you need to be scared of survey.

And I definitely don't think you need to spend the week before survey frantically trying to become survey ready.

You can build it into your everyday practice.

🎧 Listen to this week's episode: Being Survey Ready Isn't Rocket Science: It's the Daily Habits That Keep You Ready.

And if you want a free walkthrough of your role during state surveys, it's on all major podcasting platforms under 'Long Term Care RD'

08/19/2026

Here's a simple test for your documentation:

Could someone read your notes and understand what happened with the resident without having to hunt through the chart?

If a resident loses weight, I want to be able to follow the story:

What changed?

What did you assess?

What did you identify?

What interventions did you put in place?

Did the resident actually receive them?

Did they work?

What did you change when they didn't?

That's so much more useful than:

“Continue supplements. Monitor weights.”

Your documentation isn't just something you do because you're required to.

It's how you show your clinical reasoning.

And when survey comes around, that matters.

I've got a full article that can help you know exactly what to write and how to make it succinct here:

https://longtermcarerd.com/adime/

08/18/2026

One of the easiest ways to stay survey ready?

Know your high risk residents.

These are the residents you don't want to discover when a surveyor asks:

“So, tell me about this resident.”

You should already know:

What is putting them at risk?

What have you done?

Is it working?

What needs to happen next?

High risk doesn't mean you need to see every resident every single day.

It means you have a system for making sure they don't fall through the cracks.

That's clinical practice. And that's survey readiness.

Save this one for the next time you're reviewing your caseload. 👇

Want more info on how to be survey ready? Here's a free breakdown:

https://longtermcarerd.com/dietitians-role-in-state-surveys-how-to-stay-ready-every-day/

08/17/2026

I've heard time and again that getting audited as a Dietitian is the scariest thing that can happen...

But let me tell you, it's not!

It's also not rocket science to be ready. You don't need long complicated courses or training to be ready for a survey.

It's genuinely quite simple to be ready for a survey because...

It's little habits everyday that can make you prepared.

It's the habits that you've been trained on
It's the documentation habits that you already know how to do
It's the follow ups that you already know have to be done
It's the nutrition care process consistently implemented and followed

In this weeks podcast episode I'll cover my tips for how to be ready for a survey

If you want a free walk through on how to be ready, you can explore at the link here:

https://longtermcarerd.com/dietitians-role-in-state-surveys-how-to-stay-ready-every-day/

Have questions? Drop them in the comments below!

08/14/2026

The number on the scale really doesn't matter all that much.

If you see a significant weight loss in a senior patient you aren't looking exactly at...

The number
The BMI...

You're looking at the PATTERN!

A patient could be a BMI 19.0 and only weight about 90 pounds... Sounds a bit low right?

But what if they've been in that range for 40+ years?

You're looking not going to build a care plan that involves a nutrition goal of gaining weight to a BMI of 23.0, or trying to get them to gain 20 pounds at 80+ years old.

You need to use your clinical judgement when evaluating weights.

Look for patterns over time, has it gone up? Down? Has it been staying steady for 6+ months?

Red flags don't instantly go up just because a number is low. It's about the overall picture of that individual.

Want to know more about weights in seniors and what to look for?

Check out this free article that explains more:

https://longtermcarerd.com/weight-loss/

08/13/2026

✨ NEW RESOURCE INSIDE CLINICAL NUTRITION CENTRAL

I just added a brand new 1 Page Nutrition Assessment Form to the member resource library!

It’s a simple, organized way to pull together the key information you need for a nutrition assessment without spending forever digging through the chart or trying to remember what you need to include.

Because sometimes you don’t need another complicated template. You just need something that makes your job easier.

Inside Clinical Nutrition Central, members get access to practical, ready to use resources like this that are designed specifically for clinical dietitians.

Less time creating forms. Less time searching for information. More confidence in your documentation and nutrition care.

If you’re a clinical dietitian and you want resources that actually make your workday easier, this is exactly why I created Clinical Nutrition Central. 💚

Join the community and get instant access to the full resource library.

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Winnipeg, MB

Website

https://longtermcarerd.com/, https://clinicalnutritioncentral.com/

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