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142 In Pursuit of the Sunbeam: A Practical Guide to Transformation from Institution to Household
against the institutional norm of regularly scheduled mealtimes with the documentation essential for regulatory compliance. How (and where) will lunch and supper be prepared and delivered? Will yours be one of the lucky nursing homes that has forward thinking fire marshalls and state regulators who will support the preparation of two, or even three meals a day in your household kitchens? When you consider the positive impact of breakfast to order on our residents’ health and happiness, just imagine the impact of having all three meals to order. In the beginning consider cooking breakfast to order and preparing most desserts, salads and other special food items as part of household life. Keep your plans (both physical environment and operating systems) flexible to allow for future progression.
Staffing the Kitchen
There are three options you may consider for staffing the kitchen in the Household Model:
1. The creation of a homemaker position that incorporates dietary aide and housekeeping aide roles and responsibilities. This blend is logical and simple, generally playing to people’s strengths. But don’t think for a minute that all housekeepers love to cook, or all dietary folks love to clean. Just let the teams and the households work it out, and they will. Of course, continue to encourage all staff to become CNAs so they can better assist the residents in the dining experience.
2. The creation of versatile workers - all staff trained to perform tasks in dietary. If you choose this route, remember once again the rigors of regulatory compliance, especially when expecting all positions to have working knowledge of all kitchen functions.
3. Create a blend of dietary and activity aide hours into a kitchen activities position. This lucky person spends their whole day working with food and fun in the kitchen. Think about the time spent in your kitchen at home, and the range of tasks accomplished there, and you will sense the potential for this blend.
These are three of any number of blended roles you can design within a versatile household team to staff the kitchen.
Housekeeping
As explained above, housekeeping can be accomplished through blended homemaker roles. Housekeeping, however, is a responsibility of