ABSTRACT
Jenny Phelps, a nurse on the Franciscan 8-Tower nursing unit, noticed a breakdown in communication with food services personnel regarding whether or not a patient could have food. She decided to create a sign to signal when patients under her care could eat. After a brief chat with her supervisor, she presented the idea to the unit staff council, and they approved the idea. Jenny had the hospital print shop print and laminate some signs and tested them on her off day. Other nurses in the department liked them right away because the signs could remain at the doorway of the patient’s room, being flipped over to change from “food allowed” to “NPO” (a Latin abbreviation for nothing by mouth), as shown in Figure 4.1.
