Dietitian

About the role

Provides clinical nutrition services for inpatient and outpatient, including nutrition assessment, modified diet formulation, self-management training and nutrition intervention to patients.

Aims to ensure patient satisfaction, quality care, regulatory agency compliance and good public relations through the safe and efficient use of resources.

Responsibilities

• Screens patients (pediatric-geriatric) for nutritional risk.
• Assesses the nutritional status of patients found at risk through documentation in the medical record.
• Develops, revises and individualizes a nutrition care plan based on information from the patient, medical record, family and healthcare team members.
• Makes recommendations for patient care based upon guidelines as outlined in the current diet manual.
• Utilizes evidence-based research into practice.
• Utilizes physician/referring practitioner-driven protocols or other facility-specific processes to implement, initiate or modify orders for diet or nutrition-related actions (e.g. oral nutrition supplements, diet modifications, diet texture modifications for dentition or individual preferences, nutrition-related laboratory tests and medications and nutrition education and counseling).
• Utilizes physician/referring practitioner-driven protocols or other facility-specific processes to manage nutrition support therapies (e.g., enteral formula selection and rate adjustments based on energy needs or laboratory results, supplemental water for enteral nutrition, parenteral nutrition formulations, etc.) consistent with specialized training where required, competence and approved organization policy.
• Executes programs/services in an organized, collaborative, and customer-centered manner.
• Participates in process for ordering privileges required for expanded roles and enhanced activities consistent with federal and state practice acts.
• Participates in care planning and patient/family conferences.
• Communicates effectively with all team members, patients and families through conferences, individual consultation and committee participation. This includes in-person, telephone, written, and electronic communication.
• Orients, mentors and trains staff and interns, as applicable.
• Advises department on patient care and food service issues.
• Provides training to patient services staff on special needs with patient diet prescriptions.
• Fulfills other tasks as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university required.
• Completion of an ACEND (Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics)-accredited supervised practice program required.
• Registration with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR).
• Must hold a current Alabama Dietitian license.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree preferred.
• Advanced practice certification in approved area of dietetics practice is strongly encouraged.
• Membership and participation in professional organizations (i.e. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietetic Practice Groups, local Dietetic Association, specialty professional organizations, etc.) is strongly encouraged.

Skills

• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents.
• Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.
• Ability to write speeches and articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format.
• Ability to effectively present information to medical staff, healthcare professionals, top management, public groups.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to interpret a variety of technical instructions and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Benefits

Includes exposure to human body fluids, disease and infection. Requires wearing common protective equipment to adhere to standard precautions and isolation procedures. May be required to work in hot humid conditions.

Pay

N/A

Schedule

N/A