Employee Experiences Providing Nutritional Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Nutritional care is a critical, yet often overlooked component of quality care in long-term care (LTC) that is linked to culture, socialization, and residents' psychological and physiological wellbeing. Given that several COVID-19 infection control protocols affected nutritional care, this study aimed to understand employees' experiences of these changes. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with Saskatchewan healthcare employees from several disciplines, all of whom had a role in supporting nutritional care in LTC. The resulting interview transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three main themes characterized the interviewees' reflections: regression to an institutional mealtime environment, unrealistic expectations, and concern for residents. Given the centrality of nutritional care to quality of life, strategies tailored to support staff in providing relationship-centered nutritional care must be further articulated to maintain standards of care for LTC residents in future outbreaks and epidemics.