What does a dietary aide do?
A dietary aide is responsible for assisting food preparations and ensuring that the meals adhere to an individual's specific diet plans. Dietary aides must strictly follow sanitation standards and hygiene procedures to guarantee the safety and quality of the service. They also help in facilitating kitchen maintenance, keeping every area clean and organized. Dietary aides must also have comprehensive knowledge of nutritional guidelines to provide information and share suggestions as necessary to improve the service and preparations.
Dietary aide responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real dietary aide resumes:
- Use of slicers, grinders, deep fryers, ovens, grills and cash register.
- Prepare cooked foods following HACCP guidelines.
- Operate stoves, grills, fryers, ovens and microwaves.
- Interview WIC applicants for income eligibility, nutrition foods, and health.
- Train employees as hired to complete all assign tasks according to ServSafe guidelines.
- Maintain a clean kitchen by cleaning the oven and stoves sweeping and mopping.
- Aid in special diets menu development, oversee HACCP implementation, conduct research.
- Place food servings on plates using standard measuring ladles, scoops, spoons, etc.
- Train new cook and dietary employees, instruct ServSafe practices, and dietetic policies and procedures.
- Serve residents, get there drinks, are dishes, scoop up there desert, and sometimes cook
- Perform a variety of services in the dining room including setting and busing tables, doing dishes, restocking pantries.
- Perform serving, cleaning, and stocking duties in establishments such as cafeterias or dining rooms in order to facilitate customerservice.
- Prepare and serve patients with all of their designate dietary needs by implementing individualize nutrition plans.
- Prepare nutritious meals for patients with detail attention to any dietary restrictions or special instructions by physician.
- Direct interviews with current and newly admit rehabilitation residents to determine resident dietary needs.
Dietary aide skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Dietary Aides are proficient in Patients, Meal Trays, and Food Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Dietary Aides that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 15%
Prepared nutritious meals for patients with detailed attention to any dietary restrictions or special instructions by physician.
- Meal Trays, 13%
Prepared meal trays ensuring accuracy of menus and dietary restrictions for residents.
- Food Service, 11%
Supported daily food service operations including the preparation and distribution of meals in accordance with residents' specific dietary programs.
- Food Handling, 9%
Adapted food handling to individuals with compromised immune systems, demonstrating patience and adaptability with critical customer needs.
- Food Carts, 6%
Assist in arranging tray cards, loading food carts, and assistance to cook in the preparation and service of meals.
- Tray Line, 5%
Prepare & Serve food on resident tray lines/cafeteria as assigned practicing departmental portion control techniques.
Most dietary aides use their skills in "patients," "meal trays," and "food service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential dietary aide responsibilities here:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a dietary aide to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what dietary aides do because "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen to customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared as requested." Additionally, a dietary aide resume shows how dietary aides use communication skills: "assembled and distributed patient food trays room service operator maintained sanitation in service and prep areas engaged in effective communication with patients"
Customer-service skills. Many dietary aide duties rely on customer-service skills. "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry," so a dietary aide will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways dietary aide responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "provide nutritious meals for residents received loyalty customer service award"
The three companies that hire the most dietary aides are:
- Life Care Solutions140 dietary aides jobs
- Life Care Centers of America123 dietary aides jobs
- Mira Vista Development
112 dietary aides jobs
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Compare different dietary aides
Dietary aide vs. Nutrition specialist
Nutrition specialists are skilled professionals who possess detailed knowledge of foods that are necessary for human health and growth. These specialists are required to provide comprehensive nutrition services to patients who are admitted to community health centers and specialty clinics for medical nutrition therapy. They must create diets and meal plans for patients based on their medical and dietary needs. Nutrition specialists must also organize community outreach efforts and other funded nutrition programs to encourage participation from professionals and lay groups.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, dietary aide responsibilities require skills like "meal trays," "food service," "food handling," and "food carts." Meanwhile a typical nutrition specialist has skills in areas such as "pet," "nutritional care," "patient care," and "nutrition education." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Nutrition specialists tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $58,810. In contrast, dietary aides make the biggest average salary, $29,402, in the hospitality industry.The education levels that nutrition specialists earn slightly differ from dietary aides. In particular, nutrition specialists are 9.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a dietary aide. Additionally, they're 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Dietary aide vs. Nutrition technician
A Nutrition Assistant makes sure that patients in a healthcare unit are fed according to their dietary needs. They assist in kitchen prep and cooking food.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, dietary aide responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "meal trays," "rehabilitation," "fine dining," and "meal service." Meanwhile, a nutrition technician has duties that require skills in areas such as "patient care," "breast milk," "nutritional risk," and "nutrition education." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Nutrition technicians tend to reach similar levels of education than dietary aides. In fact, they're 4.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Dietary aide vs. Nutrition assistant
A nutritionist is a health professional who helps patients choose the right things to eat and advise them on the health effects of certain foods. By being experts in food and nutrition, nutritionists assess a patient's dietary habits and create plan menus for them. They usually work closely with patients who have medical issues such as diabetes or those undergoing chemotherapy. Nutritionists are also required to speak to students or employees about the importance of good nutrition and preventing health problems through proper foods.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a dietary aide is likely to be skilled in "meal trays," "food carts," "fine dining," and "meal service," while a typical nutrition assistant is skilled in "food intake," "work ethic," "patient care," and "food preparation."
Nutrition assistants earn the highest salary when working in the hospitality industry, where they receive an average salary of $32,604. Comparatively, dietary aides have the highest earning potential in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,402.nutrition assistants typically earn similar educational levels compared to dietary aides. Specifically, they're 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Dietary aide vs. Nutritionist
Types of dietary aide
Updated January 8, 2025
