Hospital Food Service Rotation

I spent two weeks at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital for food service.The first day I was in the kitchen at TMH,  there NSF auditor came for their food service safety inspection. I was able to shadow the inspector.  It was neat to see what he observed, and also allowed me to become familiar with the huge kitchen.

The second day of this rotation, the hospital was implementing a new wellness program incorporating healthy menu options. The launch of this was perfect for my requirements for this rotation. I was able to help set up and plan during this event.

Throughout the two weeks at TMH, I assisted on tray line as well as conducted a tray accuracy and a tray assessment.

My preceptor showed me how scheduling is done. He showed me how each position breaks down into FTEs (Full time equivalents) and how it all works out into positions and the breakdown from there. He then showed me how he figured out manager schedule including weekends. It was interesting seeing the breakdown and how in depth is has to get some times. They are hiring a new manager which made the schedule a little difficult with training's and necessary staffing for this new hire.

Friday I conducted inventory  with the staff in the kitchen. The store room took a while but then I helped out in the cooler. It was freezing! There was three coolers, I made it through the last two- helped out writing the numbers down for the kitchen staff as they called out the product and number.

By the second week of this rotation, I had already finished most of my projects. My preceptor scheduled my in-service at the behavioral health center but Wednesday came and everyone forgot about it and we had to reschedule.

It was a good learning opportunity to see the hospital food service management side of being a dietitian.