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Dietetics and foodservice personnel are ready for team problem solving
1Medical Dietetics Division, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210-1234, USA.
Objective:
To determine the readiness of dietetics and foodservice personnel for contributing to team problem solving.
Design:
A descriptive, correlation study in which a five-part questionnaire was designed to collect data.
Subjects:
Dietetics and foodservice personnel (n = 632) in eight hospital settings; 321 subjects (51%) volunteered to participate.
Statistical Analyses Performed:
Statistical data to summarize demographic information and two-way analysis of variance with a Scheffe post hoc analysis was used to investigate differences between dietetics and foodservice personnel on each of the subscales.
Results:
In general, all respondents were somewhat oriented toward group problem solving and were confident in their problem-solving skills. Problem-solving expertise within the organization decreased for the respondents as the problem moved from their direct work areas to the organization level. Dietitians displayed higher self-efficacy in contributing to problem-solving teams than did foodservice personnel, indicating a 75% chance that they would contribute whereas all other respondents indicated a 50% chance of contributing.
Applications:
The results of this study generate optimism for involving all dietetics and foodservice personnel in team problem solving. However, training activities are needed for both foodservice personnel and dietetics professionals.