Upcoming Filing Cutoff Dates:

• 7/26/2024
• 8/2/2024
• 8/16/2024
• 9/6/2024
• 9/20/2024
• 10/4/2024
• 10/18/2024
• 11/1/2024
• 11/15/2024
• 12/6/2024
• 12/20/2024

Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) must be received or postmarked by the filing date indicated above. Applications postmarked, personally delivered or received via interoffice mail after the filing date will be processed in the next group.

The information below will help you determine which classification(s) is(are) appropriate for you. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as stated on this bulletin to compete in this examination.

Open and Open, Non-Promotional Examination(s):

• DIETETIC TECHNICIAN (SAFETY) - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

3288

For DIETETIC TECHNICIAN (SAFETY), once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

• EX-03288

Submit an Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) to apply for this examination.

Electronic applications can be submitted through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov.

You may apply by mail to:

• Department of State Hospitals
  Selection Services Unit
  1215 O Street, MS 14
  Sacramento, CA 95814
  

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678).

You may drop off your application and any applicable or required documents at:

• Department of State Hospitals
  Selection Services Unit
  1215 O Street, MS 14
  Sacramento, CA 95814
  8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678). All applicants must provide proof of identification. Accepted forms of identification are: 1) a photo identification card or 2) two forms of signed identification.

If you require assistance or alternative testing arrangements due to a disability, indicate on your application that you need reasonable accommodation. You will be contacted by a representative of the testing department to make the necessary arrangements. If you have not been contacted by the time you receive notification of testing, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

If you are unable to submit your application or complete the test due to a disability, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

Minimum Qualifications

Either I

Registration with the Commission on Dietetic Registration, the credentialing agency for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; or

II

Education: Completion of an Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics approved Dietetic Technician Program, with emphasis in nutritional care or food service management, and

Experience: Six months of experience in the practice of dietetics in a health care, school, or residential care setting. (A Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university or equivalent degree approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Vocational Education under the provisions of the California Education Code Division 10, Part 59, Chapter 8, which meets the academic requirements as approved by the Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics may be substituted for the required experience.) (Applicants who have completed 30 course units of the required education will be admitted to the examination but must complete the education and experience requirements in full before they will be considered eligible for appointment.)

Applicants must submit their exam applications AND complete the exam during the same cut-off period.  For example, if you submit your exam application on July 8^th, 2024 (which is after the July 5^th, 2024 cut-off) you must complete the exam by July 19^th, 2024.

Filling Cut-Off Dates are listed at the beginning of the exam bulletin.

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Components that are due with your application will be scored and will count toward your final examination result. Failure to submit these items may result in disqualification or elimination from the examination.

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of: Principles, practices, and theories of nutrition and dietetics; methods of planning, preparing, and serving food to a large number of persons; special dietary requirements of mentally or developmentally disabled persons and other client or patient groups.

Ability to: Apply the principles and practices of nutrition and dietetics; communicate nutritional data to the health care team and food service employees; keep records and prepare reports; analyze situations accurately and adopt an effective course of action.

Some positions in this classification may be eligible for safety retirement in accordance with Government Code section 19816.20.

A Servicewide Open eligible list for the DIETETIC TECHNICIAN (SAFETY) Classification will be established for:

• State of California

The names of successful competitors will be merged onto the eligible list(s) in order of final score regardless of test date. Eligibility expires 12 months after it is established. Applicants must then retake the examination to reestablish eligibility.

Veterans' Preference will be granted for this examination. Veterans' Preference is an assistance program for veterans, veteran widows and widowers, and spouses of 100% disabled veterans who seek employment with the state. Veterans' Preference is also extended to currently serving military members nearing their retirement or separation date.

You are not eligible for Veteran's Preference if you are:

• A veteran who has been dishonorably discharged or released.
• A veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran who currently has permanent civil service status. (Permanent civil service status is the status of an employee who is lawfully retained in his/her position after completion of the applicable probationary period. This does not include limited term).

Veterans' Preference is codified in Government Code Sections 18973 – 18979.

Veteran status is verified by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR). Directions to apply for Veterans' Preference are on the Veterans' Preference Application (Std. Form 1093), which is available at www.CalCareers.ca.gov, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

Instructions: 
Rate your knowledge performing specific job-related tasks, knowledge skill or ability.

Tasks:

1. Preparing weekly diet menu using nutrition based software and other applications for review.
2. Monitoring need for diet menu changes using tray tickets and observation to initiate their completion based upon diet analysis.
3. Processing diet orders and special diet instructions via phone calls, faxes to prepare meals according to physicians’ prescriptions.
4. Maintaining patient diet information by entering transfer updates, diet renewals, diet changes onto a database in the process of movement sheets and renewals.
5. Preparing and distributing required production/presentation forms (e.g., tally of special nourishment items) in order to track completion.
6. Confirming special items (nourishments, off-menu items, separate order forms) are dispensed as reflected in doctor prescription and on nutrition based software.
7. Monitoring on-unit and line service by meal observation when assigned in order to report any concerns.
8. Consulting with appropriate staff by observing meal preparation and services in order to improve on technical aspects of service.
9. Assisting with food quality maintenance by taste-testing and reporting concerns in order to provide high food quality, appropriate portion sizes, and accurate temperatures, following preparation or service procedures (e.g., Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points [HACCP])
10. Communicating nutrition information effectively by responding to all incoming clinical calls/inquiries in order to follow through as needed.
11. Maintaining current census by electronically sending information for new admission and acute infirmary patients, in order to keep within Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
12. Maintaining required clinical records by preparing periodic reports/tallies.
13. Performing miscellaneous clerical tasks in order to manage diet office workload when staff are absent by following clinical policies/procedures.
14. Evaluating activities pertaining to work assignments in order to make recommendations for work improvement, including participation in clinical projects planning/implementation and management of a clinical responsibility.
15. Inspecting work area by first-hand observation in order to initiate safety alerts and immediately report hazards.
16. Reporting injuries/accidents by informing supervisor immediately and seeking any needed medical attention to keep with Joint Commission, and California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA).
17. Adhering to infection control and health/hygiene standards by following dress code, completing annual physical, etc. according to policies and procedures.
18. Assisting with nutrition education classes by preparing lesson plans and suggesting topics to inform patients and/or facility staff.

KSAPCs:

1. Knowledge of principles, practices, and theories of nutrition and dietetics in order to ensure the patient population receives proper nutritional care.
2. Knowledge of methods of planning, preparing and serving food to a large number of persons to meet HACCP requirements.
3. Skill in using computer software (e.g., MS suite), in order to maintain databases, communicate with colleagues.
4. Skill in communicating and interacting with colleagues and patients clearly and professionally.
5. Ability to apply the principles and practices of nutrition and dietetics in order to ensure patient population receives proper nutritional care.
6. Ability to communicate nutritional data to the health care team and food service employees to ensure it is accurate and complete.
7. Ability to keep records and prepare reports to efficiently and accurately share information with colleagues and other interested parties.
8. Ability to implement Medical Nutrition Therapy, CA State Law (AB 1444) under the appropriate guidance.

• Department of State Hospitals
• State of California

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of State Hospitals reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.