Sydney Jackson, R.D.

Details

Nutrition and Food Services Manager, Saint Francis Children’s Hospital
Tulsa, OK
Age: 25
Education: B.S. and M.S. in nutritional sciences from Oklahoma State University
Years at organization: 1

Why Selected?

According to Lisette Coston, R.D., executive director of support services, Sydney has made an impact on foodservice by:

Get to know

Q. What has been your proudest accomplishment?

Establishing a good rapport with the clinical staff. We have been able to work together as a team to improve our service to patients as well as the individual nursing units.

Q. What would you say you excel at over more seasoned colleagues?

I have a remarkable lack of fear when it comes to challenging the norm. Some may view naiveté as a weakness, but I have come to embrace it while it lasts. I have brought a different perspective to the table by simply asking “Why?”

Q. What's been the biggest challenge you've had to overcome?

The most difficult challenge has been reorganizing the kitchen and the kiosk to improve efficiency, boosting kiosk sales and making sure both areas are compliant with all Joint Commission and Health Department codes.

Q. What's been your most rewarding moment?

The most rewarding aspect of my job is getting to be a part of my employees’ lives and their growth, both personally and professionally.

Q. What would you like to accomplish in your career in the next two years?

In the next couple of years I would like to standardize training for each job class in the kitchen so each employee within a job class can function at the same capacity. 

Q. What's been your funniest on-the-job disaster?

On the same day as previously mentioned, our walk-in cooler went down. In the middle of everything we had to load every scrap of food onto large carts and wheel them down the long hallway to the other kitchen in the main part of the hospital. By some further unfortunate streak of luck I ended up having to move the biggest cart by myself. As I was moving it down the hallway I noticed a gentleman had suddenly entered into my direct path. I informed him that I was having trouble navigating the cart and was unable to stop it so he might benefit from moving to the side. The gentleman did not heed my suggestion, and as hard as I tried to stop the cart—feet dragging and all—I ended up bumping into him. But it was just a little bump and no injuries were sustained.

Q. What can you look back at now and laugh at?

On one particular day, we were already operating the kitchen on the bare minimum of staff when my second cook did not show up. At this point every available employee was serving in all capacities. My one cook was cooking, prepping and delivering patient trays. My ambassadors were not only delivering patient trays, but they were also assisting with the cooking and the prep work. I was cooking, prepping and delivering patient trays, in addition to attending meetings and handling a disaster (see below). It was a rough day, but it was great to see everyone come together as a team.