For those of you in long-term care in Wisconsin, there is a document on the State of Wisconsin, Department of Health Services website, addressing frequently asked questions pertaining to F325 and F371. http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/rl_dsl/Publications/09-032.htm. It is dated 6/11/09.
Related to F371, there are many questions on bare hand contact, gel sanitizer, dish machines, dining room service, approved food sources, potentially hazardous food, time and temperature, and raw and pasteurized eggs.
I was especially pleased (and relieved!) to see clarification on "holding" vs "service to the resident" temperatures. "Holding" and "point of service" temperatures relate to the temperature of the food as it is held on the line and plated for service. Hot foods must be held at 135 degrees F. or higher and 41 degrees F. or lower. There are no regulations stating the temperature that the food must be when the resident receives it! (There are no serving temperature recommendations in the USDA Food Code, either.)
However, appropriate temperatures for palatability are evaluated as part of the Investigative Protocol for Dining and Food Service. A facility may be cited under F364 if the residents are not satisfied with the serving temperature of the food.
Another area that is addressed is approved food sources. Basically, residents do have the right to choose to eat food brought in by volunteers, family, employees, etc. An individual facility may want to develop policies on what it will allow, however.
For those of you not in Wisconsin, if your state does not have something similar, this will provide good information. However, watch for state regulations that may differ from Wisconsin. For example, in Wisconsin produce from farmers' markets or locally grown produce is not regulated and is considered an approved source. Your state may have different regulations.
Long-term care food service regulations are complex! The federal long-term care regulations must be met, of course. But so do state long-term care regulations and state food codes.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
National Healthcare Food Service Week
October 5 - 11, 2009 is National Healthcare Food Service Week!
This is a great opportunity to recognize the important work completed by all food service employees in your establishment. Food and meal service is a critical aspect of satisfaction for residents and patients. Without the food service workers, your operation would not be in business.
Employee recognition also assists greatly in employee retention, productivity, and morale. Although recognition should occur throughout the year, it becomes very important to do something for them at this time.
Recognition can include thank you notes, gift certificates, nominal gifts, rewards, contests, parties, public recognition, and, of course, food--provided someone else prepares and serves it!
Public recognition can serve many purposes. Taking an ad out in the local paper and thanking all the food service workers, by name, for all they do everyday is a great way to recognize the employees. Who doesn't like to see their name in print? It is also serves to market your facility. Too often facilities only make the paper if something bad happens. This is a way to remind the community of all the good that happens as well.
If you are stumped on how to recognize your employees, a great book is 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson. These ideas are not theories, but approaches taken by actual companies.
This is a great opportunity to recognize the important work completed by all food service employees in your establishment. Food and meal service is a critical aspect of satisfaction for residents and patients. Without the food service workers, your operation would not be in business.
Employee recognition also assists greatly in employee retention, productivity, and morale. Although recognition should occur throughout the year, it becomes very important to do something for them at this time.
Recognition can include thank you notes, gift certificates, nominal gifts, rewards, contests, parties, public recognition, and, of course, food--provided someone else prepares and serves it!
Public recognition can serve many purposes. Taking an ad out in the local paper and thanking all the food service workers, by name, for all they do everyday is a great way to recognize the employees. Who doesn't like to see their name in print? It is also serves to market your facility. Too often facilities only make the paper if something bad happens. This is a way to remind the community of all the good that happens as well.
If you are stumped on how to recognize your employees, a great book is 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson. These ideas are not theories, but approaches taken by actual companies.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Now, Discover Your Strengths (Book Review)
Now, Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton can assist in better managing employees. More importantly, however, it can assist each of us in increasing our professional and personal success.
In First, Break All the Rules, Buckingham discussed the importance of helping employees discover their talents, the things at which they are naturally good, and building on those rather than trying to correct weaknesses. It is a matter of trying pull out what is already inside the person, not trying to put in what was left out.
In Now, Discover Your Strengths, Buckingham and Clifton discuss in great detail how, from infancy, our talents are created and how we can identify and build them into strengths rather than trying to fix our weaknesses. The basis of the book in the Internet-based Strengths-Finder Profile. This is the product of a 25-year effort by The Gallop Organization to identify the most prevalent human strengths.
Talents, combined with knowledge and skills, create strengths, those things that we can do near perfectly, consistently. Talents are innate, and the knowledge and skill are learned. With this knowledge about ourselves, it is possible to be more successful.
The book discusses how to build strengths. It also discusses how to manage around weaknesses, which is more effective than trying to fix them.
In First, Break All the Rules, Buckingham discussed the importance of helping employees discover their talents, the things at which they are naturally good, and building on those rather than trying to correct weaknesses. It is a matter of trying pull out what is already inside the person, not trying to put in what was left out.
In Now, Discover Your Strengths, Buckingham and Clifton discuss in great detail how, from infancy, our talents are created and how we can identify and build them into strengths rather than trying to fix our weaknesses. The basis of the book in the Internet-based Strengths-Finder Profile. This is the product of a 25-year effort by The Gallop Organization to identify the most prevalent human strengths.
Talents, combined with knowledge and skills, create strengths, those things that we can do near perfectly, consistently. Talents are innate, and the knowledge and skill are learned. With this knowledge about ourselves, it is possible to be more successful.
The book discusses how to build strengths. It also discusses how to manage around weaknesses, which is more effective than trying to fix them.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
First, Break All the Rules (Book Review)
One of the best management books is First, Break All the Rules, What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. Originally copyrighted in 1999, the information still applies today!
The book is based on information the Gallup Organization obtained over 25 years. The first part of the research concentrated on employees and what the most talented ones needed from their workplace. Over a million employees were interviewed. The net result was that talented employees need, more than anything else, great managers.
That led to the second part of the research on what great managers do to find and retain talented employees. The Gallup Organization interviewed over 80,000 managers at all levels.
Analysis of the research resulted in 12 questions that measure the core elements needed to recruit and retain great employees. It also indicated that much of management conventional wisdom does not quite work. For example:
The book is based on information the Gallup Organization obtained over 25 years. The first part of the research concentrated on employees and what the most talented ones needed from their workplace. Over a million employees were interviewed. The net result was that talented employees need, more than anything else, great managers.
That led to the second part of the research on what great managers do to find and retain talented employees. The Gallup Organization interviewed over 80,000 managers at all levels.
Analysis of the research resulted in 12 questions that measure the core elements needed to recruit and retain great employees. It also indicated that much of management conventional wisdom does not quite work. For example:
- When selecting someone, select for talent, not just experience, intelligence, or determination
- When setting expectations, define the right outcomes, not the right steps.
- When motivating someone, focus on strengths, not on weaknesses.
- When developing someone, help find the right fit, not the next rung on the ladder.
The book describes in detail the 12 questions, the importance, and especially how to accomplish the above four keys.
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