A "Typical" Day

My grandmother asked me this weekend to describe a typical day of my internship. This is a nearly impossible task, as I switch rotations often and locations even more frequently.

Today, however, I've excerpted a section from my foodservice management journal that represents a fairly typical day. I was at a long-term care facility for four weeks and one of my assignments was to describe each day's activities, challenges, etc. For this excerpt, I have changed names and certain details to protect privacy.

Day 6: Daily Activities

Caroline (foodservice director and my preceptor) and I attended the morning meeting, finally. It happens every morning at 9am, but Caroline had been too busy to attend last week. Odds and ends today:

• Read through “Food Service Director Responsibilities,” which cover HR, accounting, costing, production, education, communication, operations, purchasing, quality, and programs, and “Dietary Services Standards.”
• Observed Nicholas (dietary aide) and Grace (AM cook) serving brunch.
• Discussed garnishing and portion control with Caroline.
• Updated last month's inventory list in preparation for taking inventory at the end of the month.
• Reviewed QA forms with Sandy, the RD, and scheduled a time to go with her on an inspection (next Friday, hopefully).
• Nailed a poster about Employee Rights to the wall in the chemical room.

Challenges Observed

The staffing crisis continues: Tara, a cook, is in the hospital, and Chelsey, a dietary aide, is out to be with a family member (also an employee here), who is in the hospital as well. Caroline and I will work for Grace the next two mornings so that she can cover the weekend.

Interactions Had/Observed

As I walked away from observing brunch, I heard someone say, “Who was that lady?”

“No idea,” her companion replied. Some people thought I was from the state, even though I don't have a clipboard. It's about time I hit the floor and made my presence known! I was cooped up in the kitchen with catering all last week.

Progress Made

Made some progress on the in-service insofar as I read through the material with which Caroline furnished me on garnishing and controlling costs, and I pinned down more precisely what Caroline wants from the staff in in terms of garnishes and portion sizes. Observing brunch helped me understand the limitations on staff to garnish plates – Nicholas frequently had nursing assistants and volunteers waiting for him to dish up another plate, for instance. From Sandy, I learned that starches are most frequently over-portioned.

Spider sauce plating design by thehoneybunny.
Takes way too much time and product
when you're plating 90 desserts.

Revelation #6: The dietary aides do not have the time to make garnishes as elaborate as the ones Caroline showed me.