Nutrition Care Assistant

WVU Medicine

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Nutrition Care Assistant 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 position requires knowledge of special diets and allergies, excellent customer service, and attention to patient safety. The assistant also maintains cleanliness of nutrition centers in patient care areas. The role involves working with patients, nursing staff, Clinical Dietitians, kitchen staff, and production personnel to ensure accurate menu requests and timely meal service. The assistant follows dietary restrictions and infection-control procedures, documents required nutrition information, and assists with room-service assembly-line and dishroom tasks as needed. The schedule is 5:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m., 40 hours per week, with rotating weekends and holidays. The position is based at WVUH West Virginia University Hospitals in Morgantown, West Virginia. A valid Monongalia County Health Department Food Service Worker Permit is required throughout employment. A temporary permit must be obtained by the first Wednesday of employment if the permanent permit is not already held, and a permanent permit must be obtained within one month of the start date. Until the temporary permit is obtained, 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.

Requirements

Must have a valid Food Service Worker Permit (FSWP) from the Monongalia County Health Department (MCHD) before starting, or obtain an MCHD Temporary FSWP no later than the first Wednesday of employment and a permanent MCHD FSWP within one month of the start date at the next available class.
Must maintain a valid MCHD FSWP throughout employment.
Until a Temporary FSWP is obtained, may not handle exposed food or food-contact surfaces, equipment, or utensils.
Ability to understand written and oral communication.
Ability to push a fully loaded tray cart of 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 alerting nursing staff.
Deliver or retrieve meal trays as needed.
Visit patients designated as needing assistance to obtain menu selections and enter them 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 correct issues immediately; maintain the supply of condiments on the cart.
Document information required for ordered calorie counts.
Monitor new patients’ knowledge of room service, provide menus, and explain the service as needed.
Establish and maintain rapport with nursing staff through effective 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 and follow up on unusual requests.
Meet sanitation, safety, and quality-control guidelines established by departmental policies, health department regulations, and HACCP when maintaining unit nutrition-center cleanliness.
Collect patient trays and return them to the kitchen within a reasonable timeframe.
Assist the room-service assembly line while waiting for trays, including wrapping silverware or helping in the dishroom.
Follow procedures for phone and iPad use.
Meet daily menu-completion and meal-delivery deadlines.
Perform other assigned duties, which may include duties normally performed by a dietetic assistant.