Credentials and skills required for hospital food and nutrition department directors.
The perceptions of hospital administrators, food and nutrition department directors, and management dietetic educators were compared with respect to the credentials and administrative skills required for a director of a food and nutrition department in a hospital with 300 beds or more. Questionnaires were mailed to the director of food and nutrition services and the vice president of hospital operations at 132 hospitals in five midwestern states. Fifty-six questionnaires were mailed to all educators on the 1986 to 1988 membership list of the Foodservice Systems Management Education Council. Response rates of directors, administrators, and educators were 68%, 53%, and 82%, respectively. The questionnaire consisted of three parts. Part one addressed credentials required; part two required participants to rank 14 skill categories in order of importance; and part three focused on facility descriptors and credentials of participating administrators and directors. Findings of the survey indicate that the minimum qualifications for department directors were registered dietitian status, at least a bachelor's degree in food and nutrition, and work experience in foodservice systems management. Although administrators ranked foodservice management skills higher than nutrition skills, they ranked nutrition skills significantly (p less than .001) higher than did directors or educators. These findings may guide career development of practitioners who aspire to department director positions.
Dowling
R A
RA
Department of Food and Nutrition Services, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612-3864.
Lafferty
L J
LJ
McCurley
M
M
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003406:Credentialing; D004522:Educational Status; D005521:Food Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011361:Professional Competence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires