Nutrition Care Patient Services Representative

Job Title

Nutritional Care Services Liaison

Job Description

This position provides exceptional patient service and nutritional care for patients in an inpatient care unit by making sure the patient's dietary needs are met. This position is not responsible for providing care to patients.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions:

• Serves as a liaison for the assigned inpatient care unit to ensure that meal service, orders, and delivery needs are met.
• Responds to meal service related calls and pages from patients and helps to resolve or refers any problems to the appropriate individual.
• Interacts and coordinates with doctors, nurses, dietitians, health care assistants and health unit coordinators to ensure that nutritional orders are accurate and the patient's dietary needs are met accurately and efficiently.
• Interacts with the patient by explaining the Nutrition Care Services program, collects personal preferences, records meal requests, and personally delivers each meal of the day.
• Inputs all special nutrition requests and personal preferences into the nutrition software system correctly and in a timely manner so that all meals can be delivered on schedule.
• Manages special requests made by patients or their families and determines when to refer questions to nutrition care technicians, dietitians, or department supervisors.
• Assists patients with making nutrition selections that are compliant with their diet.
• May collect trays and clean patient care unit galley after meals.
• May prepare patient areas for trays prior to meals and deliver the appropriate tray to each patient.

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities:

• Ability to perform the essential functions of the job as outlined above.
• Demonstrated communication and human relations skills.
• Demonstrated knowledge of nutrition in order to understand special diet orders.
• Ability to work as a team player and as an individual.
• Demonstrated knowledge of when to help other representatives who have a larger patient caseload.
• Ability to appropriately handle customer issues or complaints.

Qualifications

Required:

• One year of customer service experience.
• One of the indicated food handling permits must be obtained within 30 days of employment.
• Incumbents assigned to patient care units must successfully complete a hospital provided nutrition exam within one month of hire.

Licenses Required:

• One of the following:
• Current Utah Food Handler Permit.
• Current Food Protection Manager certification, accredited by ANSI.

* Additional license requirements as determined by the hiring department.

Preferred:

• Knowledge of medical terminology.
• Food service experience.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

Employee must be able to meet the following requirements with or without an accommodation.

• This position involves intermediate working conditions in a healthcare setting that may exert up to 50 pounds and may consistently require lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, or otherwise moving patients or objects, such as medical equipment, while providing patient care. This position may be standing and walking for sustained periods of time.

Physical Requirements

Carrying, Climbing, Color Determination, Crawling, Far Vision, Lifting, Listening, Manual Dexterity, Near Vision, Non Indicated, Pulling and/or Pushing, Reaching, Sitting, Speaking, Standing, Stooping and Crouching, Tasting or Smelling, Walking

University of Utah Health