CDM, CFPP of the Month - February 2022

Name: Rosalind Davis, CDM, CFPP

Job Title: Nutrition Counselor and Certified Lactation Counselor
 
Employer:  Lake County Health Department’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, Children (WIC)
 
Job Location: Lake County, IL 
 
Years at Current Facility: 22 Years

Years in Current Position: 22 Years

CDM Since:1989

Why did you decide to become a CDM, CFPP?

I was working at a Nursing Home as A Dietary Manager for a 150-bed facility in 1984. I had read that it was going to be important, if you supervise food service in a skilled nursing facility, that you would need to be a CDM, CFPP.

What are your main responsibilities in your current position?

Good customer service is a must. Clients must be certified in order to be in the program; in order to be certified, they have to meet income guidelines.  I provide the nutritional assessments (anthropometric and iron levels) that have to be completed on each client.  I also promote breastfeeding as the idea way to feed a baby.  I  approve special formula for infants, teach nutrition and discuss food safety as it pertains to women, infant and children. I even present presentations to fellow coworkers.

How do you organize your time at work to make sure you accomplish all your responsibilities?

Day-to-day, you have to make priorities - remember what you didn’t complete and come back and finish in a timely manner.  If you don’t have enough staff, the job still has to be done.

What is an example of an innovative way you have made change at your facility and how did you implement it?

We are required to do outreach to get clients interested in signing up for the WIC program. I have held a table at Halloween Trail of Treats, Easter Gathering and Black History Month.
For Black History Month, the Illinois Association for Nutritional Professionals will have a table encouraging high school students, and any one who attends the function, to consider foodservice as a career.  I will take the opportunity to introduce our association to them and correspondence courses that can be taken.

What was your first job in the foodservice industry?

It was working at Dairy Queen. I had a hard time making the Q on the cone.

Who has been your biggest mentor in foodservice and how have they helped shape your career?

My 7th grade teacher Mr. McGee is one. He asked us to all decide what we wanted to do as an occupation and encouraged us to go interview someone in the profession. I went out to Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois and interviewed the Dietitian. After that, I started out attending the University of Illinois in the Dietetic field.

Another person is Linda Waite, CDM CFPP, RD, LDN, Treasurer, and Volunteer trainer on the board.

Other mentors include the people who were part of the Illinois Association and Nutrition and Food Professionals board for years.  

What are the biggest challenges you face in your position and how do you handle them?

Using the motivational interviewing skill and waiting for the client to decide what they would like to do.

What is your favorite part of your job?

I am surrounded by diversity in employees and staff. I also enjoy teaching food safety and encouraging clients to breastfeed.

On another note, I love the staff meetings; our staff meeting have topics I can’t wait to share with the Illinois Association of Nutrition and Foodservice Professionals.

How do you stay up to date with current innovations and trends?

By reading ANFP's Edge Magazine and attending national and state meetings.

How do you envision the foodservice industry changing in the next few years?

I envision younger people with different values. They will have to balance the needs of technology and reality to have satisfied employees and customers.

What is your advice to those just getting started in the foodservice industry?

Hold on. It may seem tough. Your ability to learn, network, having tenacity, and being positive can lead you to any road you want to travel.