3 Ways to Advocate for Higher Standards in Your Dining Room
April 9, 2012
This week, the health care industry celebrates National Patient Advocacy Week (April 9th – 13th), which started me thinking about how senior living communities can advocate on behalf of residents for higher standards in the dining room.
Here are three easy tips for fostering hospitality and service improvement in your community:
- Shift your service focus to put residents’ needs first—and encourage your dining service team to do so as well.
- Teach your staff the importance dining has for the overall health and well-being of the community.
- Share your copies of Kind Dining® Connection with your staff. The Be Kind tips are perfect for passing out to servers or posting in the break room. The Activities Director or Dining Manager will appreciate the Table Tip. News and best practices articles will be helpful to managers and team leads.
New eyes’ for nursing homes through QIS in Long-Term Living Magazine
March 8, 2012
Even when putting resident needs first is a clear intention, it may take new eyes to see where and how transforming change must occur.
My latest e-article for Long-Term Living Magazine, New Eyes’ for Nursing Homes Through QIS, talks about the new QIS expectations and how to take a fresh perspective in your senior living community.
How about you? What do you see when you look around your senior living community? Are better relationships being built? Are you defining and achieving higher standards of service quality? Are you educating staff about new skills and responsibilities?
I’d love to hear about your challenges and successes. Feel free to post your stories below in the comments section.
Hospitality and Leadership in the Dining Room
February 13, 2012
Don’t miss Hospitality and Leadership the Dining Room, published January 31st in Long-Term Living Magazine, to learn more about:
- Training front line servers
- Improving your bottom line
- Breaking down barriers
What Up in Sunny Long Beach, Calif.?
May 2, 2010
Flying into sunny Long Beach California from Portland Oregon was smooth sailing. The weather is lovely, bright warm sunshine, slight breeze. I see bunches of swaying palm trees. I am here to co-present with Harold Urman at the Aging Services of California annual conference on Tuesday afternoon May 4 from 2:15-4:15. Our presentation is called, It’s Not Just a Meal Anymore. Harold will highlight research validating the competitive advantage of meeting resident dining expectations and I will share how to turn research into actions and improved server behaviors you can use tomorrow to improve hospitality and service in your communities. See you there!
Teaching Respect
April 2, 2010
My husband had minor foot surgery early this morning and as the nurse put the final wrap on his foot, she asked me what I do for work. I shared, I teach food servers in senior living communities how to show good service to elder folks. She immediately reacted with a big surprised smile and blurted “that is so needed! Younger people just don’t know how to show respect to older people!” Read more
Hospitality is the key…
March 19, 2009
I just read in a culture change newsletter about a community that has created a new title for dining staff called hospitality associates. This particular community is set up in neighborhoods, they adjusted breakfast dining times for a more leisurely approach ( 7am-9am) to allow residents flexibility in their morning routine. What they discovered in this process is that there was more time for staff to interact with residents on a one to one basis and genuinely connect. Read more
Servers: Nursing vs Foodservice
March 9, 2009
Are servers working in the nursing department as caring as the food service department staff about serving a meal? This question often tops the list of challenges in senior living communities., whether I’m working with a skilled nursing home, assisted living community, residential care community, or Continuing Care Community (CCRC).
A dining director in a CCRC remarked last week that servers from their nursing department (nurse aides) care about the residents, however many don’t care to learn new skills about meal service. She exacerbated, ” they don’t see a need to spend the time learning because they believe they already know everything about the residents”. Read more
