Diet Assistant

Nutritional Services Aide

Under direct supervision, provides high quality care while working in partnership with Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, nutrition services staff and nursing. Uses Epic as source for patient diet orders. Solicits food preferences and food intolerances from patients, prepares individual menus for patients, assembles food, patient trays and delivers and picks up soiled patient meal trays.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Technical Skills: Prepares, assembles and delivers patient meals to the patient bedsides. Retrieves and breaks down dirty trays, and washes dishes, smallwares and utensils. Operates and cleans required equipment following all safety precautions. Follows department timelines and completes assigned tasks within allotted time. Practices infection control and proper food handling techniques. Accurately and completely writes special diet menus following the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Nutrition Care Manual. Communicates with RDN to give and receive pertinent patient information and performs nutrition risk screening. Complies with all HIPAA regulations. Takes meal orders from patients by phone or in person with handheld tablet. Ensures that all patients with diet orders for meals place meal orders and identifies patients with diet orders who have not ordered a meal within a specified timeline as established in departmental policies.

• Behavioral Skills: Has working knowledge of and complies with Kaiser Permanente policies and procedures and Nutrition Services policies and procedures. Maintains good personal hygiene and reports to work station in department uniform. Demonstrates excellent phone skills and courtesy with patients and all others. Demonstrates appropriate interpersonal skills and acts as ambassador for Nutrition Services and Kaiser Permanente while interacting with patients. Demonstrates flexibility and responsiveness to do what needs to be done to accomplish our work and meet customer demand.

• Demonstrates Service Recovery: Handles customers (customers include coworkers) conflict with respect, apologies, if appropriate, paraphrasing issues, states I sense that you are frustrated/upset/angry, addresses conflict directly with those involved, stays focused on the current issue being brought to employee. Handles customer (customers include coworkers) conflict without foul language/cursing/swearing/yelling/banging/sarcasm/interrupting /disparaging comments (i.e. race, sex intelligence, family background, previous interpersonal history) walking away, blaming systems, peers, management, offering excuses, turning conflict over to peers/supervisors to resolve or sort out possible solutions, questioning the other persons motivations or attitudes.

• Demonstrates Appropriate and Effective Problem Solving Skills Which Include: Solicits alternative solutions from peers/others. Works to determine root causes vs. simply dealing with symptoms: 1) identifies the problem; 2) suggests solutions; 3) implements solution (asks why 3 times). Takes initiative: 1) tries to find problems; 2) takes action to resolve problems; 3) always asking how things can be done better. Actively participates as team player/member in the department. Can work independently to accomplish job tasks.

• Performs related tasks as needed. Organizes, sets up, inventories, stocks and rotates storeroom, freezer, and refrigerator inventory. Generates and reconciles purchase orders. Inspects, deliveries against purchase orders. Rejects delivery of items that do not meet standards. Performs cleaning of floors using the floor machine. Also sweeps and mops the floors in the walk-freezer, walk-in refrigerator and dry goods storeroom. Removes garbage daily to appropriate dumpsters.

Basic Qualifications:

• Experience

• Minimum two (2) years of food service experience.
• Per the National Agreement, current KP Coalition employees have this experience requirement waived.

• Education

• High School Diploma or General Education Development (GED) required.

• License, Certification, Registration

• Food Handler Certificate (Washington) required at hire

• Additional Requirements:

• Interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.
• Knowledge of medical terminology.
• Knowledge of special diets.