Dietary Aide (Part-Time)

ABOUT US

Channing House is a leading not-for-profit Life Care Community in Palo Alto, founded in 1960. We believe that older adults thrive in a vibrant setting that supports active, engaged and healthy living. We provide a sustainable, innovative community that promotes this lifestyle, while embracing respect and dignity for all who live and work here. Our team of 170 staff members, from Front-Line to Leadership, drive the mission of Channing House, providing services to the 265 highly engaged residents who call Channing House their home.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Dietary Aide works to ensure that therapeutic diets are safely served to residents. This position is responsible for the production of meal tickets, nourishment labels and production tallies for resident/patient menus. The Dietary Aide is also responsible for interdepartmental telephone inquiries, maintaining all office equipment, and managing supply inventory for nutrition office. Together with the entire team at Channing House, your role contributes to promoting a healthy and vibrant home for our residents. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position will be responsible for, but not limited to the following essential duties and responsibilities: 

Dietary Planning and Assistance – 80% of job duties

• Provide the highest quality of service to customers at all times. Visit patients to provide assistance with menu. 
• Prepares dietary information for use by kitchen personnel in preparation of foods.
• Examines diet orders and menus received from hospital units; tallies portions/foods of general and soft diets. 
• Processes new diets and changes as required. Calculate diabetic diets following standards established by Clinical Dietary Manager or Dietician. 
• Collaborate with CNA’s/nurses to provide outstanding dining service, from ordering to clean up.
• Participate in tray line and food temperature monitoring.
• Communicate patient needs to appropriate staff while maintaining patient confidentiality.
• Answer telephone and intercom calls and relay information to kitchen concerning meal changes, complaints or patient discharge.
• Prepare and deliver formula and special nourishments to unit pantries.
• Create systems and solutions to ensure efficiency in service.
• May perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Training and Policy Adherence – 10% of job duties:

• Ensure compliance with various licensing and regulatory agencies, including but not limited to: Santa Clara County Department of Health, CDPH, CDSS, CalOSHA, HIPAA/Privacy Act, etc.
• Attend allergy and food-borne illness in-service training, dementia training, and customer service training.
• Report all accidents and injuries in a timely manner. 
• Participate in regular safety meetings, safety training and hazard assessments. 
• Attend training programs (classroom and virtual) as designated.

Upholding Company Standards – 10% of job duties:

• Establish and maintain effective team relationships with fellow staff; apply effective communication and listening skills
• Demonstrate professionalism in all interactions with all residents, colleagues, clients, vendors, and members of the public
• Provide a supportive and caring environment to meet the needs of residents as individuals and as members of a shared community
• Adhere to all company policies, procedures, safety, and compliance practices, and business ethics codes

JOB REQUIREMENTS / QUALIFICATIONS 

To perform this job successfully, a person must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.

Years of Related Professional Experience: 

• 1 year of related work experience in hospital or extended care facility.

Educational/Position Requirements:  

• High School diploma, GED or equivalent experience preferred. 

Computer/Software/Technical Applications:

• Ability to use a computer. 

Languages:

• Ability to speak and comprehend English the primary language used in the workplace; ability to speak and/or comprehend other languages utilized by clients is a plus.

Required Licenses/ Certifications/ Background:

• May require a valid driver’s license
• Must be registry eligible for dietetic technician.

Travel Required:

• 0%

Skills: 

• Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking — Use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Customer Service — Manages difficult or emotional situations involving residents, resident families, and/or staff; responds promptly to needs of residents, resident families, and/or staff; responds to requests for service and assistance.
• Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Professionalism — Presents self in a highly professional manner to others and communicate with co-workers and other departments with professionalism and respect. Maintains a professional relationship with all coworkers, vendor representatives, supervisors, managers, residents, and resident families. 
• Quality Management — Looks for ways to improve and promote quality.
• Safety and Security — Observes and ensures staff compliance with safety and security procedures; determines appropriate action beyond guidelines; reports potentially unsafe conditions; uses equipment and materials properly. 
• Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Cultural Awareness - Demonstrates knowledge of EEO policy; shows respect and sensitivity for cultural differences; promotes a harassment-free environment.
• Culinary — Excellent working knowledge of food preparation and technical skills. Familiarity with kitchen equipment, cooking and presentation.
• Food and Nutrition Science — Excellent knowledge of food and how it affects physical health. 
• Research translation —  Communicate technical nutrition information and explain the effects of dietary choices on residents’ health

Abilities: 

• Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Learning — Willingness to be open to learning and growing. 
• Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Ethics — Treats people with respect; inspires the trust of others; works with integrity and ethically; upholds organizational values.
• Positivity — Ability to maintain a positive attitude. 
• Presentability — Maintains high standards for work areas and appearance. Upholds dress code requirements. 
• Quality — Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; applies feedback to improve performance.
• Attendance/Punctuality — Consistently at work and on time.
• Dependability — Follows instructions, responds to management direction; takes responsibility for own actions; keeps commitments.

Reporting Relationships:

• Number of Direct Reports (if applicable): 0

Work Environment: 

• Generally in an indoor, controlled temperate environment.
• May supervise activities and events outdoors and be exposed to heat/cold during support of outside activities.
• Position requires varying schedule to include ability evenings, holidays, weekends, and extended hours as business dictates. 
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud.

Physical Demands:  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to:

• Stand on your feet throughout work period. Significant walking or other means of mobility. 
• Possess multi-limb and eye-hand coordination.
• Able to reach, bend, stoop, push and/or pull, and frequently lift/move up to 25 pounds. 
• Utilize specific vision abilities for viewing work related processes and materials handling.
• Able to sit at a desk, working on computers and operating phones.

Channing House Diversity Statement:

Channing House is committed to the principles of equal employment. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and all other employment laws and regulations. It is our intent to maintain a work environment that is free of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation based on an individual's race (including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists), color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, marital status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender (including gender identity and gender expression), age (40 years and over), sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status, protected medical leaves (requesting or approved for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act or the California Family Rights Act), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws. Channing House is dedicated to the fulfillment of this policy in regard to all aspects of employment, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, placement, transfer, training, promotion, rates of pay, and other compensation, termination, and all other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have read and acknowledge receipt of this job description and agree to perform the responsibilities as described above. I understand this job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work necessary to perform this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of employees who hold this position. I am able to perform the duties and the responsibilities of this job without an accommodation. Should I need an accommodation, I will inform Human Resources at [email protected].