Teamwork – Its what’s for Lunch! Part 1

Posted on May 25th, 2018

Imagine a scenario. Its mid-morning and the lunch time is approaching. A patient in a hospital bed is feeling hungry. He reaches over to the bedside table and grabs his copy of the Patient’s Room Service menu. On the cover there are some very appetizing and colorful food pictures. Just by looking at these pictures he is anticipating a nice lunch tray with delicious food items prepared just for him. He is imagining what hot and cold food choices he would like to have. After all he was not allowed to eat or drink any food or beverage by mouth all morning.

Then there is a gentle knock on the door and his nurse enters the room smilingly and tells him that the doctor has cleared him for lunch meal. He is elated to hear that and thanks her for the great news. Of course, his next question is “How is the food here?”  She replies with pleasant voice and full assurance that “Our food service department is the best and the food here is great!” She asks if he had any questions about the menu or needed help in placing his order. He is pleased with the nurse’s kind gesture of help! He tells her that he will call for his meal order a bit later, when he is ready.

A few minutes later the patient calls the Room Service order line and a very friendly, pleasant and courteous representative answers the phone. The interaction between the two about his food choices is very detailed and in line with patient’s diet guidelines. The representative helps him design a great meal tray to his liking. The patient is very satisfied with the courtesy and help he received from the Room Service representative. He is anticipating a great meal to arrive at the time that he wanted for the tray to be delivered.

There is a gentle knock on the door at about the time he is expecting his meal tray to arrive. A very pleasant and courteous Room Service hostess enters the room and introduces herself. She has his meal tray. She verifies his name and date of birth and places his meal tray in front of him on the over bed table. She requests that he verifies if the meal tray is accurate and appealing to him. He verifies that the tray is accurate and says that the food presentation looks very appetizing. She offers to come back in five minutes to see if he needed anything else.  He is very impressed with the courtesy and politeness of the hostess who just served him his meal tray. A few minutes later when the hostess comes back to check on him, he tells her that the food is great and he is really enjoying it! He thanks her for checking back on him!

In the scenario described above, the patient experiences very professional, helpful, polite and courteous service throughout. He also enjoys a great, freshly prepared and delicious meal of his choice. This excellent experience is made possible by the Teamwork of many talented and dedicated people in the food and nutrition services department. His experience is further enhanced by the support and kindness of his nurse. I call this whole patient experience – Teamwork and Its what’s for Lunch!

The following Team of people strive to provide excellent dining experience to every patient at every meal period, every day:

• The nurse who offers to help and talks up the food service department
• The team that created the colorful and attractive Room Service menu
• The Room Service representative who helps each patient with service attitude
• The tray line staff who assemble the tray with care and accuracy
• The team of cooks who prepare fresh and appetizing hot foods
• The team of prep-cooks who prepare fresh and appealing cold foods
• The expediter who verifies the tray presentation and the accuracy of the tray
• The hostess who is polite, courteous and helpful when serving trays
• The dietitian who designs the menu choices in line with the dietary guidelines
• The executive chef who leads the entire culinary team and assures high quality
• The production manager who orders the best possible food supplies
• The dish room staff who follow sanitary standards for cleaning dishes and utensils
• The department director who keeps the Team motivated and inspired
• The hospital administrators who support and appreciate the Team

These people work together towards a common goal. They are extremely talented in their profession and highly skilled in their duties. They are very well trained and perform their tasks with pride and humility. They have an inherent talent to do their job well and with compassion.

Come back to the RSA Website to see Part II in this series …..

Khalid Shiekh

Consultant – Food and Nutrition Services