Staffing Your Hospital Infant Feeding Preparation Room

Many hospitals are unsure of where to start to find appropriate candidates. The goal of an infant feeding preparation operation is to provide safe and accurately prepared human milk and formula feedings to the right patient at the right time. While there is not a uniform job description or educational requirement for an infant feeding preparation technician at this time, to accomplish this goal the candidate should have a skill set that includes:⁴

• Knowledge of infection control measures and aseptic technique
• Understanding of proper handling of HM and formulas
• Critical thinking skills
• Basic math skills
• Attention to detail
• Good written and verbal communication
• Strong time management skills

The level of formal education required will depend on the scope of the preparation operation, the level of supervision, and the amount of on-the-job training available. A hospital utilizing staff with some sort of healthcare technical education will likely be able to have their technicians operate with greater autonomy and less training. Those employing technicians with a high school diploma will likely need a more robust training program and greater oversight of day-to-day operations. Many hospitals choose to require staff to have some sort of formal technical healthcare degree/license. The benefit of such training and experience is that these candidates are likely already familiar with the hospital environment, general medical terminology, and aseptic technique. When available, the dietetic technician, registered (DTR) makes an excellent candidate for an infant feeding preparation technician because the focus of the training is on nutrition, food handling, and aseptic technique. Individuals may take the dietetic technician registration exam after completing either an associate’s degree from an accredited dietetic technician program which includes 450 hours of clinical supervised practice or a bachelor’s degree from an accredited nutrition and dietetics program. DTRs must complete 50 continuing education credits every 5 years to maintain registration. Some regions have easy access to DTR candidates due to an abundance of local educational programs while other parts of the country do not have such programs, making candidates with this type of education more difficult to find. In addition to the DTR, there are several other healthcare disciplines that make a good fit for an infant feeding preparation technician. Such examples could include:

• Pharmacy technician
• Medical technologist
• Certified nursing assistant (CNA)
• Licensed practical nurse (LPN) or licensed vocational nurse (LVN)
• Certified dietary manager (CDM)

Another option is to seek college students majoring in healthcare professions, particularly nutrition or nursing. The benefit of hiring students in these disciplines is that they may have already received quite a bit of education that would be relevant to the position and are often very interested in gaining healthcare experience. Students may be eager to fill hard to cover shifts such as evenings, weekends, and holidays. However, when selecting students, one must consider the cost of training due to frequent turnover as students move on to pursue positions within their studied professions.