A patient showed me his flip phone yesterday and asked if somebody needed to bring him a different one so he could order lunch. The card at his bedside had a QR code and instructions to download the new meal app. That was the whole set of instructions. The paper menus have been pulled from my med-surg floor. Dietary still takes phone orders, which is how we got his lunch sorted. But that option, including the extension, is missing from the card. He'd been sitting there trying to work out what he was supposed to do. So now a perfectly reasonable lunch order starts with the patient ringing for a nurse to explain how to access the menu. Sometimes that means finding a charger. Sometimes it means working through the app setup. In his case it meant explaining that his phone was fine and he could just make a call. The rollout email describes this as encouraging patient independence. A little further down it says nursing will assist patients who have difficulty accessing the system. We got the cards and the email. Helping people use it has just been added to the shift. I've started writing the kitchen's extension on the cards. He could use that immediately, without downloading anything or asking somebody at home to bring him equipment. Keep the app for people who want it. Put the menu and the phone number back in the room. I am tired of helping people figure out whether the phone they brought is good enough to order a damn lunch.   submitted by   /u/8SolvarinJ [link]   [comments]