Patient Dining Aide

Hartford Healthcare•Bridgeport, CT

About The Position

The Patient Dining Aide is responsible for patient food service on assigned units. Duties include taking menu selections, assembling and delivering meal trays, picking up trays, stocking patient units as needed, and fulfilling special food requests between meals. The aide maintains accurate, current information for each patient on the assigned unit and ensures meal selections comply with dietary restrictions and prescribed diet orders. The role offers menu alternatives when permitted by the prescribed diet and takes food allergies and sensitivities, as well as cultural, ethnic, and religious preferences, into account. The aide works with Nursing to confirm diet prescriptions and meet patients’ food needs, rounds on patients after trays are delivered, and addresses additional needs. The aide may help the dietitian monitor patients who are NPO, on liquid diets, or have a calorie count ordered. Patient-related problems or concerns must be communicated promptly to appropriate personnel according to departmental procedures. The aide also participates in departmental meetings and staff development programs as appropriate and performs other related duties as required.

Requirements

Must be able to read and speak English.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; may need to compute ratios and percentages.
Ability to operate the hospital’s admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) system and other computer-based systems for managing patient-care records.
Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Nice To Haves

High school diploma or GED preferred.
Two years of customer service experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Take patients’ menu selections before meal service while following dietary restrictions and prescribed diet orders.
Assemble and deliver meal trays, pick up trays after meals, and stock patient units as needed.
Fulfill special food requests between meals.
Offer permitted menu alternatives while considering food allergies, sensitivities, and cultural, ethnic, and religious preferences.
Maintain accurate and current information for each patient on the assigned unit.
Interact with Nursing to ensure diet prescriptions are accurate and patients’ food needs are met.
Round on patients after trays are passed and address additional needs.
Retrieve meal trays from patients when meals are finished.
May assist the dietitian with monitoring patients who are NPO, on liquid diets, or have a calorie count ordered.
Communicate patient-related problems or concerns promptly to appropriate personnel according to departmental procedures.
Participate in departmental meetings and staff development programs as appropriate.
Perform other related duties as required.