The hospital is a dangerous place. Morbidity and mortality can come out of anywhere, including from hospital food trays. A while back a hospital patient was critically injured when their wall mounted IV pole came crashing down on their head, resulting in a skull fracture.
Well, I've discovered a new danger for patients that I think requires immediate action by the Joint Commission. We all know that, due to OSHA regulations, hospital employees are prohibited from having food and drink at the nurses station.
It's time, now, as a matter of patient safety, to prohibit food and drink in patients' rooms as well. Here's what happens when a patient's hospital food tray is filled with their breakfast and I go to move the table out of the way and the tray goes flying off into the patient's lap.
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| Unforeseen dangers of Hospital Food Trays. |
I have reported myself to the Joint Commission for this shocking danger to patient safety. I have asked that they personally add hospital food trays to their ever growing list of things to ban in the hospital because they can. In today's safety environment, there is simply no excuse for any patient to ever be harmed again with hospital food trays.
As a physician wishing to do no harm, I am requesting one of two things. Either patients not be allowed to ever eat food again in their room or physicians be required to undergo a rigorous hospital food tray safety training program with yearly continuing education requirements to prove their proficiency in hospital safety standards at the bedside.
I'm just glad the patient wasn't gravely injured and this mess didn't scare the cleaning lady too much.
