Are Registered Dietitians Adequately Prepared to Be Hospital Foodservice Directors?

Abstract

Objective To determine perceived importance of selected competencies for the role of hospital foodservice director and explore whether registered dietitians (RDs) are perceived competent in these areas. Design Data were collected through a mailed questionnaire. Subjects A random sample of 500 hospital foodservice directors and 500 hospital executives to whom the directors report. Analysis χ 2, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskall-Wallis tests were used to examine differences among ratings by and demographic characteristics of foodservice directors and the executives with whom they work. Results All competencies were perceived to be important for someone in the role of hospital foodservice director. RDs were perceived to be somewhat competent in all areas studied but were only perceived to be competent to expert in a few of the areas. Directors who were RDs and hospital executives who had worked with RDs rated the competence level of RDs higher than did non-RD directors and hospital executives who had not worked with RDs. Conclusions Unique competencies appear to be important for those aspiring to become hospital foodservice directors. Hospital executives who had worked with RDs perceived the competency level of RDs to be higher than did executives who had not worked with RDs. Often, areas rated as most important for the role of hospital foodservice director were not areas in which RDs were perceived to be highly competent. Additional competency development may be needed to better prepare RDs to assume the role of hospital foodservice director.