Food Service Rotation
240 Hours Completed at Yuma Regional Medical Center
with the Sodexo Nutrition Services Team
Internship Experiences
Preceptor: Tara Lovinger, MS, RDN,
Clinical Nutrition Manager
Yuma Regional Medical Center with the
Sodexo Nutrition Services Team
I gained 240 hours of experience in all the different areas of clinical food service including:
- Catering (Preparing/Delivering Food to Physicians' Lounge)
- Receiving and Inventorying
- Retail (Cashier, Deli, Entrees)
- Tray Line (Starter -> Expediter)
- Tray Pass
- Dishwasher
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Improving the Safety of Dysphagia Trays in a Clinical Foodservice Setting
Quality Improvement Project
"Quality and performance improvement refers to the process by which an organization assures that the services provided meets or exceeds their established standards. Thus, management must understand human nature (i.e. their staff and the quality of work life or work environment) to ensure performance, risk management, and productivity improve.
The key steps for a performance improvement study are: Plan – Do – Change – Act [PDSA]." Kaydi Williams, PSM, RDN, University of Arizona, PSM Program Cooridnator
The Quality and Process/Performance Improvement Project for this rotation will focused on the Plan, Do and Study phases. I worked with the Clinical Nutrition Manager, General Manager, Patient Services Manager, and Kitchen Supervisor to strengthen the hospital's practices when serving dysphagia trays to reduce error and improve operations. The outcomes were a change in procedure to emphasize role of tray passers and increase visibility of dysphagia trays, development of 10 minutes training, and collection and evaluation pre/post-intervention.
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For more information about the project or survey results and analysis, please take a look at my Quality Improvement Project below.
Meal Planning with Spring Rolls and Spring Bowls
Theme Meal Project
I developed a theme meal for a employee wellness talk on best strategies for meal planning. Working with the clinical nutrition manager and a clinical dietitian (who I did the theme meal presentation with), I developed a menu composed of 3 different types of spring rolls (chicken, shrimp, and tofu), as well as 2 stir-fry spring bowls (chicken and tofu). Using 5 main ingredients, I taught people the principles of meal preparation, re-using ingredients, food safety practices for storing and re-heating foods, and the benefits of meal planning.
I also used the Harvard Health Meal Prep Resource Guide (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/meal-prep/) as a reference for viewers.
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To develop the mea, I also created a menu budget, developed a production log, conducted taste tests, prepared and assembled the ingredients to make the dishes, and filmed the wellness video.
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For more information and survey results and analysis, please take a look at
my theme meal analysis and project below:
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