How to hire a dietary patient aide

How to hire a dietary patient aide, step by step

Here's a step-by-step dietary patient aide hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a dietary patient aide job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new dietary patient aide
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

Post a dietary patient aide job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the dietary patient aide you need to hire. Certain dietary patient aide roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A dietary patient aide's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, dietary patient aides from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of dietary patient aides.

   Type of Dietary Patient Aide	Description	Hourly rate
   Dietary Patient Aide	Psychiatric technicians and aides care for people who have mental illness and developmental disabilities. Technicians typically provide therapeutic care and monitor their patients’ conditions... Show more	$10-16
   Nurse Technician	Nurse technicians, also known as nursing aides, assistants, or attendants, usually work in clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes. Primarily, they help a registered nurse by providing essential mobility, care, and support to patients... Show more	$12-19
   Aide	Aides are personal employees of their clients who commonly have health issues that render them unable to do certain tasks. They help out their clients with activities they may need assistance in... Show more	$10-16

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Patient Safety
   • Vital Signs
   • Direct Patient Care
   • CPR
   • Rehabilitation
   • HIPAA
   • Patient Rooms
   • Blood Pressure
   • Patient Charts
   • Physical Therapy
   • Patient Complaints
   • Medical Equipment
   • MRI

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
   • Provide in house rehabilitation to the disable.
   • Demonstrate compassion and professionalism while delivering dialysis treatment to high-risk populations.
   • Explain dialysis procedure and operation of hemodialysis machine to patient and calculate the proper amount for fluid removal during dialysis procedure.
   • Present peer to peer health education and provide administrative support to student health center including filing medical records using HIPPA compliant procedures

   More dietary patient aide duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your dietary patient aide job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A dietary patient aide can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, dietary patient aides' average salary in florida is 29% less than in maine.
   • Seniority. Entry-level dietary patient aides 38% less than senior-level dietary patient aides.
   • Certifications. A dietary patient aide with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a dietary patient aide's salary.

   Average dietary patient aide salary

   $13.03hourly

   $27,112 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level dietary patient aide salary

   $21,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average dietary patient aide salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Maine	$29,975	$14
   2	Rhode Island	$28,291	$14
   3	New York	$27,996	$13
   4	California	$27,925	$13
   5	New Jersey	$27,627	$13
   6	Massachusetts	$27,265	$13
   7	Michigan	$27,098	$13
   8	Connecticut	$26,934	$13
   9	Kentucky	$25,446	$12
   10	Illinois	$24,893	$12
   11	South Carolina	$24,648	$12
   12	Pennsylvania	$24,561	$12
   13	Tennessee	$21,784	$10
   14	North Carolina	$21,730	$10
   15	Oklahoma	$21,712	$10
   16	Florida	$21,145	$10

   Average dietary patient aide salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Tufts Medical Center	$31,558	$15.17
   2	Dignity Health	$30,638	$14.73	117
   3	Prime Healthcare	$30,615	$14.72	57
   4	Beaumont Health	$30,565	$14.69	1
   5	Compass Group USA	$30,280	$14.56	543
   6	Mission Regional Medical Center	$30,150	$14.50	75
   7	St. Luke's Health System	$29,646	$14.25	59
   8	Blessing Hospital Emergency Room	$28,287	$13.60	10
   9	RWJBarnabas Health	$27,931	$13.43	79
   10	Dartmouth-Hitchcock	$27,877	$13.40	4
   11	Security Officer Services	$27,164	$13.06
   12	Sodexo Management, Inc.	$27,163	$13.06	50
   13	Morrison Healthcare	$26,965	$12.96	234
   14	Northern Lights	$26,850	$12.91	29
   15	Gurwin Healthcare System	$26,111	$12.55

4. Writing a dietary patient aide job description

   A dietary patient aide job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a dietary patient aide job description:

   Dietary patient aide job description example

   Primary Location: Connecticut-Bridgeport-St Vincents Medical Center (10427) Job: TransportationOrganization: St. Vincent's Medical CenterJob Posting: Oct 7, 2022 Patient Support Aide (per diem) - (22163664) Description Work where every moment matters.
   
   Every day, over 30,000 Hartford HealthCare colleagues come to work with one thing in common: Pride in what we do, knowing every moment matters here. We invite you to become part of Connecticut's most comprehensive healthcare network.
   
   St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport has more than 3,200 employees. It includes a 473-bed community teaching hospital, a 76-bed inpatient psychiatric facility in Westport, a large multispecialty provider group, and special needs services for adults and children. St. Vincent's is the first hospital in Fairfield County to be integrated into the Hartford HealthCare network, and is the system's second-largest hospital.
   Job Summary: Transport patients, specimens and equipment throughout the facility.
   Responsibilities:
   • Non urgent patient transportation from one patient care unit to another
   • Patient discharge transportation as deemed appropriate
   • Customer service experience highly preferred.
   • Must possess effective communication skills.
   • Physical effort as specified by Position Physical Requirements and Occupational Exposures Form.
   • Other Duties as assigned
   Qualifications • Must be able to speak, read, and write English fluently.
   • High School diploma or equivalent preferred.
   • CPR Validation within 3 months of hire preferred.
   
   Education: High school diploma or GED preferred.
   
   We take great care of careers.
   With locations around the state, Hartford HealthCare offers exciting opportunities for career development and growth. Here, you are part of an organization on the cutting edge - helping to bring new technologies, breakthrough treatments and community education to countless men, women and children. We know that a thriving organization starts with thriving employees-- we provide a competitive benefits program designed to ensure work/life balance. Every moment matters. And this is your moment.
   TemporaryStandard Hours Per Week: 1Schedule: Per Diem (1 hour) Shift Details: To mainly cover 2nd and 3rd shift

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right dietary patient aide for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with dietary patient aides they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit dietary patient aides who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your dietary patient aide job on Zippia to find and attract quality dietary patient aide candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with dietary patient aide candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new dietary patient aide

   Once you've found the dietary patient aide candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new dietary patient aide. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a dietary patient aide?