Pancreatitis & New Perspectives

Looking back at these past two weeks, it's starting to feel like each day rolls into the next. As a clinical dietitian, you see several different patients a day, yet sometimes you discuss similar care plans and nutrition interventions with each. We had multiple patients come in with acute pancreatitis this week, which I found interesting. I ended up doing a lot of research on the disease and planned diet educations for those specific patients.

Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas, as we have all learned in MNT classes. This condition can be painful, and even worse, deadly at times. Diagnosis of pancreatic problems can be difficult, because there is no direct and completely accurate way of viewing the pancreas without surgery. From the perspective of a dietitian, patients with pancreatitis can often become malnourished and in need of nutritional support and education due to their abdominal pain.

The inflammation that pancreatitis creates can be uncomfortable and leave patients with a decrease in appetite. When the pancreas is chronically inflamed, the body can not produce enough digestive enzymes to help digest and absorb nutrients from foods. Depending on the severity, a patient may still be able to have oral intake before introducing enteral nutrition. My preceptor and I focused on educating those patients on an overall low fat, well-balanced diet that is high in protein from lean meats and low in animal fats and simple sugars.The "Mediterranean Diet," which can sometimes be a simple and recognizable diet term for patients, places an emphasis on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, which are smart choices for those with pancreatitis. A patient diagnosed with the disease will want to stay away from fried and full-fat foods like mayonnaise, butter, french fries, and full-fat dairy. Since the pancreas produces enzymes to digest the fats and foods we eat, it would not be smart to make the pancreas work harder when it is so inflamed.

Those educations for patients with pancreatitis were new to me within this rotation so far. Another great addition we had this week was another UK dietetic intern joining us for the clinical rotation here at TJ Samson: Jiaxun! I have been showing him the ropes this week and it's been fun. I have taught him some of what I learned throughout my own first several days: the basics of patient charting, rounding, the supplements we use here, how to talk to patients, and the layout of the hospital.

My preceptor, Carrie, currently has three interns right now. So by helping Jiaxun learn the lay of the land here at TJ Samson, I have hoped to take some stress off of Carrie's plate, since she is an extremely busy dietitian. I have hoped to achieve this competency this week, CRDN 2.7 Apply leadership skills to achieve desired outcomes, by showing leadership in helping Jiaxun and making our dietetics team have as little stress as possible. Our goal as interns is to always ask what more we can do to help out and learn as much as we possibly can.

I received my second shot for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this week as well (the day before my 23rd birthday to be exact!) Although my symptoms throughout that following night were anything but pleasant, I am extremely grateful to be fully vaccinated thanks to TJ Samson and this internship.

When the past interns came and spoke to us at the beginning of our internship during orientation week, some of them told us to embrace where we were living and try to learn about the community our rotations were in. I attempted to do that this past weekend. I walked all around the small town square, went to a cute coffee shop, and visited some retail stores. Almost every person driving past waved to me on the sidewalk from their cars; you do not see that kind of hospitality everywhere. It was really great to take in the whole town and get a new perspective of Glasgow from outside the hospital.

These past two weeks have been full of learning and gained experience within this profession. I can not believe that I only have two more weeks left in clinical, and then on to my food service systems management rotation! I can't wait to see what the rest of this internship has in store for me.

References:

About Acute Pancreatitis. (2017, February 28). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://pancreasfoundation.org/patient-information/acute-pancreatitis/

Do's and Don'ts For Pancreatitis Diet [Digital image]. (2020, November 04). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/diet-and-chronic-pancreatitis-2507165

Team, D. (2020, September 18). The best (and worst) foods for pancreatitis pain. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/best-and-worst-foods-for-pancreatitis-pain/