Ways To Assess A New Hospital Kitchen Staff Member
If you work for a hospital and run the kitchen, you have a job that is highly important. While you might not get the same credit as the medical and nursing staffs, your kitchen is responsible for keeping the hospital's patients not only fed but also properly nourished. If you've recently hired a kitchen staff member, there may be a probationary period during which he or she will be under heavy scrutiny. One of your responsibilities will be to assess this staff member and notice whether he or she will be a proper fit. Ideally, you'll see multiple signs that this is the case, but you may occasionally need to offer some corrections. Here are some ways to assess the new kitchen staff member.
Hygiene Standards
Hygiene is important in every kitchen, but even more so in a hospital kitchen because many of the patients who will be eating the food have weakened immune systems. It's important for you to be sure that your newest kitchen staff member is taking your hygiene standards seriously. Because you're well versed in this topic, you can thoroughly assess this individual simply by standing in the kitchen and watching the worker from afar. You should see that the hiree is washing his or her hands frequently and not cross contaminating different foods with the same cooking or serving utensils.
Safety
Every hospital kitchen staff needs to take a serious approach to safety, as one person's actions may not only impact his or her safety, but also that of others working in the same environment. There are plenty of ways that you can watch your new staff member to see how careful he or she is. For example, you want to see the person cleaning up any spills promptly so that the floor isn't wet and slippery, as well as placing a "Wet Floor" sign if necessary. The person should also demonstrate knife safety, including keeping knives away from the edges of counters and carrying them with their points down when walking across the kitchen.
Care With Food
You can always watch to see the care that the new staff member uses when putting food into the serving trays that will soon go out to the patients in their rooms. Even if a kitchen staff member is working quickly on this job, he or she should be conscientious and avoid making a mess. For example, you don't want one type of floor being dripped into the compartment of the dessert. Should you notice positive things in each of these categories, it's a good sign that you've hired the right person.
Contact a company like SOS Healthcare Staffing for more information and assistance.