Food Service
My affinity for Food Service
Food service is what got me interested in pursuing a career in nutrition in the first place. I had gone to culinary school and worked at a few restaurants before my internship, so I was no stranger to how a kitchen operation works. During this rotation, I was able to see the managerial side of things and learn how a hospital kitchen is ran.
Recent Projects
Performance Improvement
This presentation summarizes my performance improvement project, which focused on improving the temperatures of the hot food being delivered to patient rooms. This project enhanced my knowledge of using and understanding statistical analysis, and how making minor changes within an operation can make a large impact.
Equipment Specification Report
This is an extension of my performance improvement project, which required the purchasing of a new hot box dedicated to warming domes that cover the patient’s food during transport. It details mapping out a location, how many domes it can hold, and pricing. This project taught me how to search for a piece of large equipment for a commercial kitchen, and all factors to consider before you commit to buying the equipment.
Plate Waste Study
This study compared food waste left over on patient trays over 3 meal periods (2 breakfasts and 1 lunch) to analyze trends in patient eating habits. I learned how to assess these trends and how the information can be translated and turn into opportunities for improvement and patient satisfaction.
Mock Hospital Menus
This is a mock 7-day hospital menu which features vegetarian options that accommodate general healthful, consistent carbohydrate, heart healthy, and ground diets. This project opened my eyes to how challenging it is to create a hospital menu to satisfy a majority of patients while adhering to multiple types of diet restrictions. It also taught me how to use Webtrition, the program used at Advent Health Waterman to analyze nutrient data of different recipes.