Health Technician (Dietetic)

Summary

The Health Technician (Dietetics) reports to the Nutrition & Food Service department at the Western North Carolina VA Healthcare System in Asheville, NC. The primary purpose of the position is to provide administrative and customer service support for the VA hospital food service program. The incumbent performs routine duties that require exceptional customer service, computer skills, proper phone etiquette, proficiency in special food service and therapeutic diet procedures.

Duties

• The duties for the Health Technician (Dietetic) includes, but are not limited to the following:
• The incumbent will practice excellent customer service skills in all forms of communication, either via telephone, e-mail or in-person.
• The incumbent must also practice proper business telephone etiquette while answering the phone.
• When communicating with customers, incumbent will be pleasant, friendly, personable, and professional.
• Incumbent will welcome callers courteously and identify themselves/ the service/ the organization.
• Communicates effectively via telephone and in-person and uses strong listening and speaking skills.
• Properly operates telephone equipment in order to transfer or place calls on hold.
• The incumbent will consider both verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication.
• Incumbent will maintain the vital connection between Nutrition Communication Center (NCC) Associates, Registered
• Dietitian, higher graded dietetic technicians, food service staff, Nursing, patients and guests.
• NCC Associate will follow local-facility policies and standard procedures for patient feeding, including but not limited to missed patient meals, late tray requests, patient meal ordering, and adherence to prescribed therapeutic diet.
• NCC Associate will take whatever action necessary, within their authority, to maximize patient satisfaction with meal service.
• NCC Associate prints, prepares and reviews meal tickets according to local facility procedures.
• NCC Associate completes select and nonselective menus as required.
• Triages calls from inpatient units or outpatient clinics and procedure areas relating to patient meal trays or nourishments at the lowest level and will refer issues that cannot be resolved to Food Service
• Supervisor or other as determined by local policy.
• The incumbent will retrieve computerized information/printouts to assist with tray and/or nourishment assembly such as standing orders, nourishment labels, tabulated recipe lists, and other simple information to assist in meal delivery.
• Organizes work to complete assignments.
• Has thorough knowledge of basic and routine modified diets and is able to provide basic[1]level education and information on local facility therapeutic diets to patients, guests, and nursing staff.
• Makes referrals to dietetic technician and/or dietitian as needed for more thorough diet education.
• May complete quality monitors to ensure food items and menu selections for regular and therapeutic diets are prepared and served appropriately (i.e. accuracy, timeliness, appearance, and temperature, dysphagia food testing).
• Assists patients in selection of the proper foods according to their individual diet.
• Uses communication skills to converse with veteran's to accurately take menu orders via
• COTS Dietetic software
• System. Must possess multitasking skills when entering menu orders and improving quality of life of veterans through social interaction. Uses computer skills to precisely and swiftly move between functions in software systems and effectively log on and off the computer system. Able to provide
• Veterans, guest/family members, VA employees (i.e. nursing staff) with basic information about the menu, available food items and refers concerns on compliance problems or appetite to supervisor and/or dietitian.
• Has working knowledge of diet principles, such as carbohydrate counting for meal planning.
• Conducts new-admit patient rounding to introduce and discuss, menu available food items and ways to order meals with patients and residents.
• Conducts meal rounds on units after tray delivery to ensure patient satisfaction and provides service recovery and meal corrections when needed.
• Participates in Patient Satisfaction
• Survey process, from collection of data to making corrective actions based on results. Assists with Cultural
• Transformation activities when food is being served to assure patient safety is maintained. DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITION: Applicants tentatively selected for
• VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with
• VA. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received. Work
• Schedule: 6am-2:30pm; 6:30am-3:00pm; 10:30am-7pm
• Telework: Not availableVirtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health
• Technician (Dietetic)/PD99855S Relocation/Recruitment
• Incentives: not authorize

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant’s criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.

Required Documents

• Documents Accepted: Cover Letter DD-214/ Statement of Service Disability Letter (Schedule A) Disability Letter (VA) License Other (1) PCS Orders Performance Appraisal Professional Certification
• Resume Separation Notice (RIF) SF-15 SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Documents Required: Resume Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application.Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application
• Package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).You will not be contacted for additional information.
• Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
• Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply.
• Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.
• Applications are accepted online.
• Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.