Health Technician (Dietetic)

Quick Facts

• Role: Health Technician (Dietetic)

• Setting: Hospital Nutrition and Food Service (NFS)

• Purpose: Administrative and customer service support for the VA hospital food service program

• Work schedule: Rotating weekdays/weekends/holidays (5:00am–1:30pm or 10:30am–7:00pm)

Description

Provide administrative and customer service support for a hospital food service program by managing patient meal service, ensuring correct therapeutic and regular diet preparation/serving, and coordinating meal ordering and service recovery. You will monitor food items for accuracy, timeliness, appearance, and temperature, handle special orders/substitutions, and partner with dietitians and clinical staff regarding food/drug interactions. You will also triage meal-related calls, assist patients with selecting appropriate foods, and enter meal orders into a computerized system.

Responsibilities

• Handle patient meal service orders

• Complete quality monitoring for regular and therapeutic diets (accuracy, timeliness, appearance, temperature, dysphagia food testing)

• Ensure food/supplies are covered, labeled, and dated

• Store, rotate, inventory, and dispose of outdated food/beverages

• Advise supervisor on special orders/changes impacting production and substitutions

• Collaborate with dietitians on food/drug interactions and notify clinical staff of potential issues

• Follow patient feeding policies (missed meals, late tray requests, meal ordering, adherence to therapeutic diets)

• Conduct meal rounds after tray delivery for satisfaction and service recovery

• Triage calls from inpatient/outpatient clinics and procedure areas related to patient meals/nourishments

• Assist patients with food selection aligned to their individual diet

• Answer questions and provide menu/food item information

• Enter meal orders into a computerized system and conduct patient rounds

Benefits

A federal employee benefits package is available; eligibility depends on the position type.