Clinical and Food Service Departments:
Ideas for Bringing the Two Groups Together
Trying to bring your clinical and food service employees together? These ideas may
help.
Project days
Assign clinical dietitians “project days” in the Dietary Department. The possibilities
are endless.
Try these suggestions:
 Revise diet manuals or menus
 Provide staff education
 Work toward measuring and improving patient satisfaction
In-services
Give the clinical dietitians the opportunity to provide quarterly in-services to the
dietary staff on numerous subjects—everything from food safety to understanding the
renal diet.
Communication
Urge the clinical dietitians to speak directly to the dietary employees and vice versa.
Do not allow yourself to become the “middleman” for all communication.
Celebrations
Celebrate each other’s successes:
 Make sure that the Dietary Department plays an integral part in National Nutrition
Month® (March)
 Have the Clinical Department support the dietary staff during National Healthcare
Foodservice Workers’ Week™ (the second week in October)
 Include both departments in holiday parties and individual celebrations, such as
birthdays and baby showers—you cannot force this, but by encouraging it strongly,
it actually may become a habit
Newsletters and bulletin boards
Ask the two departments to write an article for the company newsletter or to design a
bulletin board, promoting the mission of the Food and Nutrition Services Department
and emphasizing how closely aligned the two departments are.
Meetings
Schedule meetings, whenever possible, with both departments:
 Introduce change to both departments at the same time
 Introduce change separately, if the change will directly impact only one department
or if in-depth education is needed
Employee orientation
Make sure the clinical dietitians have an important part in the employee orientation
program for dietary staff.
New employees
Have all new dietitians spend at least 1 day in the kitchen to get a feel for the
department.
Working together
Involve both clinical and dietary staff in surveying patients, completing meal rounds,
developing a measurement tool, and gathering information together.
Testing new recipes
Allow the Dietary Department to showcase their food preparation skills by inviting
the clinical dietitians to taste test new recipes, and then provide input on the
nutritional and sensory attributes of the food items.
Supporting each other
Do not permit the departments to compartmentalize themselves. Instead have
employees:
 Show support of each other in public
 Share responsibility for problems and solution-seeking behaviors
 Function as a cohesive team
Review Date 3/14
G-0845