Nutrition Care Assistant

WVU Medicine

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Provides direct patient meal service by obtaining meal selections in person or through the hospitality center ordering system, delivering meals, and retrieving meal trays. The role requires knowledge of special diets and allergies, strong customer service, and attention to patient safety. The assistant also maintains cleanliness of nutrition centers in patient care areas. The position requires a valid Monongalia County Health Department Food Service Worker Permit (FSWP) before starting, or a temporary permit by the first Wednesday of employment and a permanent permit within one month of the start date. A valid permit must be maintained throughout employment. Before receiving a temporary permit, the employee may not handle exposed food or food-contact surfaces, equipment, or utensils, but may be trained on tray delivery and complete general department orientation. The schedule is varied, predominantly 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with rotating weekends and holidays. Scheduled weekly hours are 8. The work involves patient interaction, entering isolation rooms with proper protective equipment, and working in a kitchen environment that is often noisy. The employee must be able to stand for most of the workday and push a fully loaded tray cart weighing approximately 250 pounds.

Requirements

Must have a valid Food Service Worker Permit from the Monongalia County Health Department before starting, or obtain a temporary permit no later than the first Wednesday of employment and a permanent permit within one month of the start date; must maintain a valid permit throughout employment.
Ability to understand written and oral communication.
Ability to push a fully loaded tray cart weighing approximately 250 pounds.
Ability to stand for most of the working day.

Nice To Haves

High school diploma or equivalent preferred.

Responsibilities

Answer patient phone calls according to customer service standards.
Follow diet restrictions, including allergies and fluid restrictions.
Use EPIC and VST to obtain necessary patient information and process menu requests correctly.
Process between-meal nourishment orders and print them for kitchen staff.
Follow procedures for missed-meal reports, including notifying nursing.
Deliver or retrieve meal trays as needed.
Visit patients designated as needing assistance to obtain menu selections and enter requests according to diet restrictions.
Deliver meal trays within service timeliness guidelines.
Follow delivery standards, including hand sanitization, infection-control requirements, use of two patient identifiers, AIDET, and key phrases; alert nursing if a patient is not properly positioned to eat or appears to need assistance.
Check trays for missing items and promptly correct omissions; maintain condiments on the cart.
Document information required for ordered calorie counts.
Inform new patients about room service, provide a menu, and explain the service as needed.
Establish and maintain rapport with nursing staff through positive communication.
Work as a team with Clinical Dietitians, respect their primary responsibility for patient nutritional care, and respond appropriately.
Communicate patient special requests clearly to tray-line and production personnel, following up on unusual requests.
Maintain cleanliness of unit nutrition centers in accordance with departmental sanitation, safety, quality-control, health-department, and HACCP requirements.
Collect patient trays and return them to the kitchen within a reasonable timeframe.
Assist the room-service assembly line as needed while waiting for trays, including wrapping silverware or helping in the dishroom.
Follow procedures for phone and iPad use.
Complete other assigned duties, which may include duties normally performed by a dietetic assistant.
Meet daily deadlines for completing menus and delivering meals on time.