Food Service Management at Tzu Chi Hospital

Abstract

The internship was conducted at the Nutrition Division of Tzu Chi Hospital from 15 July until 21 October 2024. During the internship, various activities were conducted starting from planning the new meal cycles, deciding the patient's diet, preparing the meal and snack stickers, and conducting quality control. Food had an important role in supporting the recovery of hospital patients. However, factors such as the patient’s condition or the food quality from the hospital could reduce the appetite, leading to lower food intake. The continuous decrease in intake could lead to malnutrition and weaken immune systems. Thus, the hospital must be able to have strategies for providing a safe and nutritious meal for the patients. The strategies were started by conducting the Nutrition Care Process in ADIME format to establish the nutrition plan including the diet type that was suitable for the patient’s physical and clinical condition. Then there were three different food textures and various diets available that can be used to ensure that the patient’s meals and snacks were aligned with the condition and could support the healing process. To ensure food safety, quality control was conducted before the food was delivered using a hot trolley. However, several strategies such as providing various menus and the addition of different meal groups based on calorie calculation could be done as an improvement. The internship was conducted successfully and it allowed applying some theories that had been learned in previous courses, as well as honing some soft skills and weaknesses. Lastly, it provided new experiences that could not be obtained from the typical learning activities at the university such as insights into actual work conditions.