Cook - Dietary Aide

Full-time

Onsite - Augusta, GA

Ambulatory Health Care Services

About the position

The Dietary Aide plays a crucial role in assisting with food preparation in accordance with established procedural guidelines, under the direction of the Food Service/Dietary Manager/Supervisor. This position is essential in ensuring that meals are not only palatable but also nutritionally sound, adhering to departmental policies and procedures as well as state and federal laws and regulations. The Cook is responsible for preparing meals that meet the daily nutritional and special dietary needs of each resident, ensuring that food is served at the proper temperature and time. Collaboration with the Director of Food Service is key to efficiently allocating resources, ensuring that each resident receives the appropriate amount, type, consistency, and frequency of food to maintain acceptable body weight, nutritional values, and overall quality of life. Key responsibilities include assisting the cook in meal preparation, serving nourishments, and ensuring compliance with infection control policies. The Dietary Aide is tasked with delivering trays to residents, cleaning dining areas, and maintaining kitchen equipment and supplies. This role requires a working knowledge of food handling, preparation, and storage techniques that comply with relevant regulations. The Dietary Aide must also follow recipes and prepare foods that correspond to menu cycles prepared by the Dietitian, ensuring that meals are attractive and nutritionally adequate. In addition to food preparation, the Dietary Aide assists in supervising kitchen staff, continuously cleaning food service work areas, and using food supplies and equipment efficiently to prevent waste. The position also involves preparing food substitutes to accommodate resident choices and preferences, inspecting trays post-service to monitor resident acceptance, and reporting findings to the Dietary Manager. The Dietary Aide must adhere to safety regulations, participate in educational programs, and demonstrate respect for the rights and dignity of each resident in all interactions.

Responsibilities

• Assists cook in the preparation of meals, salads, desserts, snacks or other dishes for patients/residents, also prepares between-meal nourishments.
• Follows diet orders and NPO diet orders.
• Serves nourishments in accordance with procedural guidelines.
• Properly stores leftovers/opened food.
• Follows procedures for serving partner meals.
• Offers menu substitutions and records them in accordance with procedural guidelines.
• Complies with infection control policies in the work area.
• Delivers trays to patients/residents on halls and in dining area.
• Assists with the serving/pouring of juice, milk, water, and tea, etc.; makes coffee/tea as requested.
• Cleans all tables in the dining area after each meal.
• Cleans work area at the end of shift and after meals, including sweeping and mopping and stores all cleaning equipment appropriately.
• Cleans kitchen equipment such as carts, tables, counters, ice machine, buckets, blender, mixer, meat slicer, freezer, refrigerator, stove, steamer, garbage disposal, dish machine, coffee/tea maker, steam table, etc.
• Removes garbage from kitchen areas and hoses out garbage containers.
• Scrapes dishes, washes dishes, pots and pans and stores properly.
• Records freezer and walk-in refrigerator temperatures in accordance with established procedures.
• Maintains dishwasher and dish sink; checks and records water temperature; checks dishwasher with sanitizer strips; checks chemical levels and replaces if needed.
• Maintains supply stock and properly stores items according to established procedures.
• Sets up tray line and performs tray line service.
• Operates the dish machine, garbage disposal, mixer, blender, meat slicer, steamer, coffee and tea maker.
• Uses, cleans and maintains serving equipment according to established procedures.
• Demonstrates knowledge of food handling, preparation and storage techniques that comply with state and federal laws and regulations.
• Follows standardized recipes and prepares foods that correspond to menu cycles prepared by Dietitian.
• Assists with supervision of kitchen staff that assist with food preparation, assembling trays, cleaning and storage of supplies and equipment.
• Prepares and maintains supply of food substitutes to accommodate resident choices, cultural, ethnic and religious preferences.
• Inspects trays following meal service to monitor and record resident acceptance of menu items and reports findings to Dietary Manager.

Requirements

• Sufficient education to demonstrate functional literacy.
• A minimum of one (1) year institutional food service experience as a cook.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in long term care food production is preferred.