Overview of Services-Nutrition Services
Visitors who've dined in the cafeteria, patients with specialized diets designed by physicians and registered dietitians, area residents who've taken advantage of the hospital's nutritional counseling — all have gotten a taste of what Bayshore Community Hospital's Food and Nutrition Services Department does every day.

Whether it's planning menus based on nutritional and clinical requirements of patients, providing educational materials to families, or serving as a resource to the community, Bayshore's team of registered dietitians, dietetic technicians, and diet clerks works to ensure the nutritional needs of our patients and community are being met.

Outpatient Programs/Services
Bayshore Community Hospital provides several nutrition programs to individuals on an outpatient basis. These programs are:

• Diabetes Management Program — With a combination of individual counseling and group classes, people with diabetes learn the best strategies to manage their disease, including ways in which proper meal planning can help. Support groups also are available. For more information about this program, call (732) 888-7362.
• Nutrition Counseling — Provided through the Bayshore Wellness & Fitness Center, this personalized, one-on-one basic nutritional guidance focuses on such areas as analysis of your current eating habits; practical tips on food shopping, dining out, label reading, and meal preparation; recipe modification; and up-to-date information regarding current herbal and vitamin claims. You'll learn safe, effective ways to lose weight and gain energy, as well as which foods slow the aging process and help manage chronic conditions. In addition to basic nutritional guidance, Bayshore also offers therapeutic diet instruction according to physicians' prescribed medical nutrition therapy in cases such as cancer, endocrine disorders, hypertension, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, kidney disease, weight reduction, and prenatal care. For information call (732) 335-4200, ext. 18.
• Consumer Education — Staff provide educational seminars in the community on a variety of nutrition topics. They also assist at local health fairs, spreading the word about healthy eating habits. For details about current programs, click here.

Some outpatient services are fee-based. For information about cost and scheduling, call
(732) 335-4200, ext. 18.

Inpatient Services
In addition to the meal trays and snacks provided to patients, Bayshore's inpatient nutrition services include a broad spectrum of nutritional support, counseling, instruction, and consultations to patients of all ages and medical diagnoses. Services include:

• Individualized patient assessment and care plans, with comprehensive nutritional assessments conducted for all patients with certain conditions (e.g., malnutrition, intestinal obstructions, pancreatitis) or those who are identified by nursing staff as high risk for nutritional problems
• Medical nutrition therapy, including an evaluation of compliance and understanding of that therapy (patient and family education)
• Group education (Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients)
• Identification of patients at nutritional risk

Our experts take special care to be sure your needs are met, providing educational materials in a variety of different languages and respecting cultural and religious differences by accommodating special dietary requests. They also work to meet the needs of varied age groups. Pediatric patients, for example, are supplied with a variety of infant formulas, while teens and adolescents are provided with an "Alternative Write In" menu that features food items popular with that age group, and geriatric patients are offered foods with modified consistency, such as pureed or chopped food for people who have difficulty chewing and swallowing.

To be sure patients' clinical needs are addressed, the nutrition services team works very closely with other medical professionals involved in the patients' care, including physicians, registered nurses, and case managers.

Educational needs also play a role. If patients are unable to understand the nutritional therapy designed for them, our experts work with the family members and loved ones to provide additional education.

And, these services don't end when you leave the hospital. If you have any questions about your diet/nutritional plan, you can call the hospital for additional information.

Contact
The Clinical Nutrition Department at Bayshore Community Hospital can be reached by calling (732) 739-5900, ext. 4168.

Insurance
We participate in most insurance plans.
A physician's prescription is required for insurance reimbursement for our nutritional counseling.