Dining Services Associate

Emory Healthcare•Atlanta, GA

21h•$18 - $22

About The Position

The Dining Services Associate supports patient dining services by coordinating meal delivery with unit personnel, ensuring trays are accurate and attractively presented, and helping patients select meals that comply with diet orders, allergies, intolerances, and cultural or religious needs. The role interacts frequently with patients, families, nursing staff, and clinical dietitians to communicate special requests, diet changes, assistance needs, and concerns about food quality or intake. The associate uses diet software and portable technology to record patient preferences and support meal selection, completes updates or backup procedures when systems are unavailable, delivers between-meal nourishment, retrieves trays, and helps maintain unit food and nutrition supplies. The position also monitors patient satisfaction and intake, reports issues and meal-period updates, and participates in meetings to identify and resolve dining-service concerns. Other related duties may be assigned.

Requirements

Must be able to read, write, and follow instructions.
Demonstrated customer-service, critical-thinking, problem-solving, written-communication, and verbal-communication skills.
Ability to make sound judgments while quickly processing information.
Proficiency with computer and web-based software applications and ability to adapt to regular changes in systems and processes.
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds.
Ability to walk and stand for extended periods.
Ability to push and/or pull carts weighing up to 250 pounds.

Nice To Haves

High school diploma or equivalent preferred.
At least two years of college preferred.
Previous hospitality experience preferred; fast-food experience does not qualify.
Experience working in a high-volume operation preferred.

Responsibilities

Coordinate timely meal delivery with unit personnel in accordance with service standards.
Ensure meal trays and components are accurate and attractively presented.
Help patients receive desired food items and special requests within the parameters of their diet orders.
Open packages and arrange items on trays when needed.
Communicate with nursing staff about patients who need feeding assistance.
Retrieve trays after meal service and return them to the kitchen or load them onto transport carts.
Enter patient food preferences in the diet software system and perform updates and backup procedures when systems or interfaces are unavailable.
Provide written reports after each meal period and promptly communicate concerns about food quality, menu selections, or meal service.
Deliver between-meal nourishments as required.
Participate in Unit Practice Councils and other meetings to identify and resolve patient dining-service issues.
Monitor patient satisfaction and address food-service concerns.
Serve as a liaison between dining services and nursing units.
Provide customer service through frequent interaction with patients and families.
Use portable technology to review menu options and help patients choose meals that meet diet-order requirements, including allergies, intolerances, and cultural or religious needs.
Keep clinical dietitians informed of patients with special dietary requirements so alternatives can be provided when necessary.
Explain menu-ordering processes, diet specifications, and meal distribution to patients.
Receive calls and communications about patient requests or changes to diet orders.
Communicate with nursing staff about anticipated admissions, transfers, discharges, and diet changes, including NPO status changes.
Observe patient intake at meals and inform clinical dietitians when intake is limited.
Inventory floor stock and monitor use of enteral food supplies.
Help maintain supplies needed for food and nutrition services on the unit, monitor usage, and report changing needs.
Perform other related duties as assigned.