Role perception of consultants in Iowa nursing homes

A study comparing the differences between consultant dietitians' and foodservice supervisors' perceptions of the role of the consultant dietitian was conducted. Since it was believed that the role of the consultant could vary with the nursing home, 150 facilities were randomly selected from the population of 419 licensed intermediate-care facilities in Iowa. The administrator of each of the nursing homes was contacted by mail and was asked to distribute questionnaires to the consultant dietitian and foodservice supervisor in the facility. Consultant dietitians (no. = 69) indicated desired and actual frequency of performance of 46 selected duties. Foodservice supervisors (no. = 84) indicated desired frequency for consultant dietitian performance for the same 46 duties. Significant differences were found between actual and desired frequency of performance for 32 duties. For all of those duties except one, the desired mean was greater than the actual mean. The reasons for those differences need to be determined. Significant differences were found between the means for frequency of performance for 21 duties desired by the foodservice supervisors and desired by the consultant dietitians. The one duty with a higher foodservice supervisor mean could indicate an area in which assistance is needed from the consultants. When means for frequency of performance of duties desired by foodservice supervisors and actually carried out by consultant dietitians were compared, significant differences were found for 13 duties. Of them, 6 had a higher foodservice supervisor mean. That could also indicate areas in which consultants need to provide assistance to the supervisors. With additional data, the role of the consultant dietitian may be defined in terms of the 46 duties in this study.