What to expect in the hospital eating disorders (1654)

Key points below

Your child is in the hospital because they have hurt their body from not eating right. As your child gets the food they need, your child’s medical problems will get better and return to normal. This includes heart rate, blood pressure and blood levels. Once these medical problems improve, your child will be discharged to get mental health treatment outside of the hospital.

How Long Will Your Child Stay?

It will depend on how stable their health problems are. Most often, the stay is 5 to 7 days. Once medically stable and discharged, we will continue to help with treatment for the eating disorder. We plan for discharge as early as possible. Sometimes programs and providers may have wait lists before your child can be seen.

Goals of the Hospital Admission

Look for and treat medical problems due to malnutrition
Help your child eat better to meet their body’s needs and stay healthy
Connect to a treatment plan for recovery after leaving the hospital

Treatment Components

Full exam and lab tests
A treatment plan made just for your child with vitamin and mineral supplements
Keeping track of how the heart is working and how your child is breathing
Looking at your child’s diet and make a plan for eating
Care by a psychologist to help your child’s thinking and emotions related to eating
Seeing if medicine given by a Psychiatric specialist would help

Team Members

Hospital Medicine
Care Partners
Case Management
Adolescent Medicine
Psychiatry if needed
Art Therapy
Clinical Nutrition
Psychology
Music Therapy
Nursing
Social Work
Specialists as needed

Vital Signs

Staff will check your child’s vital signs each morning before getting out of bed and as needed throughout their stay. This includes heart rate, temperature, and blood pressure.

Weight

Your child will be weighed once daily in the morning with their back to the scale. Specific weights and calorie information will not be shared with your child. This information can be shared with parents outside the room.

Meals and Snacks

15 minutes for snacks, 30 minutes for meals and 15 minutes for supplements

Food and rest are medicine. Your child will need to eat and drink all of their nutrition at every meal and snack.
Meals and snacks will be scheduled. Your child will be expected to eat or drink 3 meals and 3 snacks.
Feeding therapies may include Naso-Gastric (NG) Tube feedings if meals or supplements are not taken. It is critical that your child gets all of their food for each day to correct their medical problems and re-nourish their body.
Your child is not allowed outside foods unless approved by Clinical Nutrition. This is because we carefully write down all food and drinks taken, weight, and medical health.
No bathroom use for 60 minutes after meals and 30 minutes after snacks.
We ask parents to eat with their child and provide support during mealtimes. Parents and visitors can only eat in room when patient is also eating. Any extra food is not to be left in the room. There is a parent lounge and cafeteria for the parent to use.

Activity Levels

Based on your child’s medical condition (vital signs and symptoms), your child will be placed on one of these activity levels:

Level 1:

Bedrest
May sit in chair for eating

Level 2:

Wheelchair rides (10 min each)
One ride may be taken to Teen Lounge, Child Life Center, or Healing Garden (30 min)

Level 3:

3 wheelchair rides (10 min each)
2 walks on unit (2 laps each)

Level 4:

May do any activity
For patients with ARFID (people who avoid certain foods)

Privileges

We provide a strict behavior plan to help your child to meet their own eating goals. Treatment will begin with these general guidelines. Early in their stay, we will make plans to give your child privileges as they improve.

Your child will always be watched during activities. This includes eating and bathroom use. For example, they may have a 1:1 sitter or be videotaped. Some patients may only be watched during meals and snacks.
How much your child needs to be watched will change during their stay as they get better.
It is important for parents to take part in the care during their child’s hospital stay.
Cell phone and computer use may be earned as part of the behavior plan. They will be limited for the first 24 to 48 hours.
The hospital phone may be used to call family members.
School work may be completed for up to 3 hours a day. At first, it’s limited.

Resources for Families

Book suggestions for parents:

Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder, by James Lock & Daniel Le Grange

Eating with Your Anorexic: A Mother’s Memoir, by Laura Collins

Book suggestions for teens:

Life without Ed, by Jenni Schaefer (for persons with anorexia, 14 years or older)

The Body Image Workbook for Teens, by Julia Taylor
(for teens with negative perceptions of their body or appearance)

Websites:

http://www.parents-to-parents.org
http://www.feast-ed.org/
https://www.emilyprogram.com/for-families/resources-for-families/
https://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/resources/families
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/parent-toolkit