This position is in Nutrition and Food Services (NFS) located in a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Buffalo NY.

Duties

Customer Service (50%) 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. Communicates effectively via telephone and in-person and uses strong listening and speaking skills. Properly operates telephone equipment. The incumbent will consider both verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication. The 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. Administrative (40%) Responsible for the independent and accurate transfer of information received via COTS Dietetics software. Diet activity and patient information must be interpreted correctly to ensure meals trays contain food items adhering to patient requests and preferences, and current therapeutic diet order. The NCC Associate may adjust diet patterns and menu selections to assure the correct meal tickets are generated, as per local facility policy and procedures. In the event the COTS Dietetics software program is inoperable, and meal tickets may not be printed, the NCC Associate will generate the appropriate paper tickets for each meal service and complete all tickets for all modified diet combinations as part of the facility's contingency plan. Transfers patient menu preferences accordingly and keeps NCC stocked with all supplies needed and files menus. Exceptional ability in utilizing a computer to enter and retrieve basic information and utilizes COTS Dietetics Software programs to retrieve diet orders, recipes, and menu and inventory data. Incumbent handles routine telephone inquiries from nursing units/nursing personnel regarding patient meal orders and may maintain a log of telephonic client inquiries/concerns received directly from the client or unit personnel based on local policy. Initiates corrective action and/or notifies appropriate dietitian/dietetic technician for follow up. Follows local policies and procedures for calorie counts, maintaining of call records and other food service-related functions. NCC Associate communicates patient concerns with registered dietitian or dietetic Technician as appropriate and communicates with supervisor to complete all task assigned such as production/menu changes, menu specials, or menu shortages. Verifies physician orders for unusual diets, conflicting modifications, tube feeding orders and nutritional supplements. Support (10%) Prints lists, reports, labels, and tray tickets following the established local facility procedures. NCCA runs nourishment labels, reports, prints back-up copies of reports and labels for contingency plans, and checks telephone messages. NCC Associate may be required to adjust menu selections, nourishments as needed for diet changes and NPO orders, as determined by local policies and procedures. Identifies errors in diet information transmitted from inpatient units to Nutrition and Food Services and takes any necessary corrective actions. Prints and assembles tray ticket packets in accordance with local facility policies and procedures and verifies correctness of the information and adherence to prescribed diet NCC Associate may discuss with diet technician and/or dietitian any adjustments of tray tickets, standing orders or supplemental feedings. Verifies physician orders for unusual diets, conflicting modifications, and nutritional supplements with the appropriate RD, informatics RD, or FSSM. Cleans and maintains NFS equipment such as refrigerators and juice machines located on patient units. Stores and rotates stock items. Assures all food/supplies are covered, labeled, and dated. Inventories and disposes outdated food/beverages in nourishment refrigerator. Prepare nourishments for patients. Completes all other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 6am-2:30p, 10:30am-7p Position Description Title/PD#: Dietary Clerk/Ambassador/PD99855A Physical Requirements: The work requires walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying of light items, such as food trays, instruction materials, books, and manuals. NCC Associate functions require long periods of sitting and moving about in an office environment, including repetitive motion activities of the hands and fingers. The work may require walking indoors, outdoors or to and from other areas of the medical center. It may be necessary to lift and/or push equipment. Incumbent is subject to periods continuous standing, sitting, walking and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending. Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds and pushing loaded carts of trays and/or nourishments.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• May serve a probationary period
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. GS-05 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-04 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. OR For GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-05 level. OR Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-05 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-05. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

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.

Contacts

• Address VA Western New York Healthcare System 3495 Bailey Avenue Buffalo, NY 14215 US
• Name: Heather Addison
• Phone: 260-440-0885
• Email: [email protected]