Improved meal times, mid-day snacks and more child-friendly food options are among the many improvements that have enhanced the patient experience for our tiniest guests at the UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. The changes were conceptualized by a workgroup consisting of leaders across Operations, Nursing and Patient Services, Food & Nutrition Services and Child Life.

Together, the team looked at challenges that were affecting our pediatric patients, such as inconvenient meal times, the need for age-appropriate snacks and more. The group conducted a trial run on UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital Unit 44, with plans to roll out the changes to other areas of the children’s hospital. The workgroup is spearheaded by Lara Zamajtuk, UF Health Shands Operations associate vice president.

“Having an interdisciplinary approach is an integral factor in creating the best possible experience for our patients,” Zamajtuk said. “Insights from various departments were used to implement changes, fine-tune existing services and make our patients more comfortable.”

Take a look at some of the newest changes that our pediatric patients can look forward to:

• Later meal times: Pediatric patients tend not to be early birds, so their morning meal time will be moved to later in the morning.
• Mid-day meals: A small menu will be available for in-between meals and includes options such as the classic PB&J.
• Child-friendly snacks: More familiar snacks will be available to patients, such as sliced apple slices, yogurt and Lunchables.