Nutrition Care Patient Services Representative

University of Utah Health•Salt Lake City, UT

55d

About The Position

This position provides exceptional patient service and nutritional care for patients in an inpatient care unit by helping ensure their dietary needs are met. It is not responsible for providing care to patients. The representative serves as a liaison for the assigned unit, coordinates meal service and dietary orders, communicates with patients and clinical staff, records meal requests and preferences in nutrition software, and delivers meals. The role also involves helping patients choose diet-compliant foods, responding to meal-related concerns, and potentially collecting trays and cleaning or preparing the patient care unit galley.

Requirements

One year of customer service experience.
Obtain one of the indicated food handling permits within 30 days of employment.
Incumbents assigned to patient care units must successfully complete a hospital-provided nutrition exam within one month of hire.
Demonstrated communication and human relations skills.
Demonstrated knowledge of nutrition sufficient to understand special diet orders.
Ability to work as a team player and independently.
Knowledge of when to help other representatives who have a larger patient caseload.
Ability to appropriately handle customer issues or complaints.
Ability to perform the essential functions of the job.
Must be able to meet the physical and working-condition requirements with or without an accommodation.
One of the following licenses is required: current Utah Food Handler Permit or current Food Protection Manager certification accredited by ANSI. Additional license requirements may be determined by the hiring department.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of medical terminology.
Food service experience.

Responsibilities

Serve as a liaison for the assigned inpatient care unit to ensure meal service, orders, and delivery needs are met.
Respond to meal service-related calls and pages from patients, resolving problems or referring them to the appropriate person.
Coordinate with doctors, nurses, dietitians, health care assistants, and health unit coordinators to ensure nutritional orders are accurate and patients' dietary needs are met.
Explain the Nutrition Care Services program to patients, collect their preferences, record meal requests, and personally deliver each meal of the day.
Enter special nutrition requests and personal preferences accurately and promptly into the nutrition software system so meals are delivered on schedule.
Manage special requests from patients or families and determine when to refer questions to nutrition care technicians, dietitians, or department supervisors.
Assist patients in making nutrition selections that comply with their diets.
May collect trays and clean the patient care unit galley after meals.
May prepare patient areas for meals and deliver the appropriate tray to each patient.