When Dinner Comes at 8 PM — A DON’s Lesson in Leadership, Process, and Prevention
- Bilquis Ali
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
⭐ Hey boo hey — this is going to be a long one, but an important one.
My goal is to share information because tomorrow it could be me or you. In long-term care, none of us are exempt from emergencies — we learn, lead, and prepare together.
Let me tell you about yesterday.
Long-term care will humble you quick.
Work was steady, I was doing my thing…and then state walked in.
You already know what that means — and they didn’t leave until almost 6:45 PM.
Alhamdulillah, unsubstantiated!
But the moment I finally got in my car to drive home…I called to follow up with one of my DONs. And the moment I heard her voice, I knew something was off.
⭐ “Bilquis… we didn’t have a cook.”
"It was 6:30 PM when I was notified. "
Dinner wasn’t served. Dietary had no staff. Residents were waiting. Nursing was scrambling. And the DON had just been notified.
Let that sink in.
No cook. No dinner. No plan. No communication. No backup.
And guess who ends up carrying the weight?
Nursing.
This is why I tell DONs all the time:
It might not be your department, but everything becomes your problem when it impacts resident care.
⭐ Priority #1: Feed the Residents. Period.
I didn’t care about the “why” in that moment. I cared about the residents.
So I walked her through a full response:
✔ Provide snacks and beverages immediately, which is already did
✔ Check on every diabetic for symptoms. again, she did that.
✔ Notify physicians, and families
✔ Contact administration,
✔ Try to reach dietary leadership
✔ Document everything
✔ Get meals plated ASAP, even if nursing had to support
A few families brought their loved one food, and a few called state.
Dinner finally went out around 8 PM.
Not ideal. Not acceptable. But when you’re in emergency mode, you do what you have to do.
As we talked, I asked her:
“What’s your backup plan when dietary falls through?”
She wasn’t sure. She hadn’t been shown. The dietary manager was unreachable.
And THAT is where the real issue lies.
⭐ Every Facility Needs an Emergency Meal Plan
Not just for survey. Not just for compliance. But because residents deserve consistent care.
An emergency plan may include:
✨ Backup dietary staff
✨ A pre-planned emergency meal menu
✨ Or perhaps having an emergency supply of food available for unexpected situations
✨ Clear communication when someone calls off
✨ Administrator notification
✨ Nursing notification
✨ Step-by-step guidance for immediate action
When you don’t have a backup plan, one call-off becomes a full facility crisis.
And nursing ends up carrying it.
⭐ This Was a Dietary Problem — But It Became a Nursing Emergency
People love to say:
“That’s not nursing.” That’s dietary.” That’s not her responsibility.”
Baby… in long-term care?
If it affects residents, if it delays care, if it creates risk, if it triggers a complaint…
it becomes YOUR problem as the DON.
Because YOU are responsible for protecting the residents — and your nursing team.
This is why cross-department processes matter.
You cannot run a successful nursing department without strong systems in EVERY department.
⭐ What Areas This Impacts:
🟣 Meal Service Requirements: Residents must receive meals on time.
🟣 Food & Nutrition Staffing: The facility must have adequate staff to prepare meals.
🟣 Emergency Preparedness / Operational Planning: Facilities must have contingency plans for essential services.
🟣 Quality of Care: Delayed meals can seriously affect diabetics and medically fragile residents.
🟣 Resident Rights & Dignity: Late meals compromise dignity, routine, and wellbeing.
🟣 Interdisciplinary Communication: Breakdowns across departments create unsafe conditions.
A missed meal is not just an oversight — it’s a systems failure.
⭐ Leadership Lesson: Urgency Exposes Your Process
This wasn’t just a staffing issue. This wasn’t just a late dinner. This wasn’t just a dietary mistake.
This was a process failure.
And when your process is weak, your residents feel it first.
That’s why I always say:
I am forever a teacher, always a student.
Every situation is a lesson.
After she meets with the dietary manager tomorrow, we’re going to put a four-point plan in place. That’s how you prevent repeat emergencies. It’s never enough to fix the issue in the moment — you have to fix the system. And that’s what leadership is: looking at what happened, understanding why it happened, and building a process so it doesn’t happen again.
⭐ If This Happened in Your Building, Ask Yourself:
✔ How fast would you be notified?
✔ What is YOUR backup plan when dietary calls off?
✔ Does administration know the process?
✔ Can nursing safely support meal service?
✔ Are diabetics monitored during delays?
✔ Would this become a complaint?
✔ Would surveyors see this as a systems issue?
These are the questions that separate chaos from leadership.
⭐ Leadership Challenge
Tomorrow, ask each department head:
“What is your backup plan when someone calls off?”
Write it down. Evaluate it. Fix the gaps. Your future self — and your residents — will thank you.
⭐ Final Takeaway
You can’t control every department. You can’t prevent every emergency. You can’t predict every crisis.
But you CAN control:
✔ Your systems
✔ Your expectations
✔ Your backup plans
✔ Your communication
✔ Your leadership✔ Your follow-through
Because at the end of the day…
When another department drops the ball, it’s nursing that ends up catching it —and YOU who has to answer for it.
Lead like someone’s mother is counting on you —because she is.
⭐ CTA: Book a Clarity Call
If this made you reflect on your own systems, staffing risks, or leadership structure…
Book a Clarity Call with me.Training for CLARITY in your role. by @bilquisbali | Stan
Together, we’ll walk through what’s working, what’s breaking down, and the exact steps to strengthen your processes before survey — without overwhelm.
You don’t have to lead alone. You just need the right guidance.
Lead with love 💜
yourfavnurseleader
Bilquis Ali