PRN Dietitian

About the role

Daily, provides ongoing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) care for entire hospital inpatient census, through screening, prioritizing, assessing, and recommending interventions.

Adapts daily workflow to accommodate fluctuations in patient load due to daily census variations, consults, acuity, staffing challenges.

Develops and implements a plan of care for patients based on an expert assessment of life cycle- and diagnosis-specific nutritional needs.

Assesses the current nutritional status of inpatients and/or outpatients through reviews of medical history and laboratory data, patient interviews, and physical examinations.

Prescribes enteral and parenteral nutrition support orders by assessing the patient and calculating macronutrients and/or micronutrients, fluid, and electrolytes.

Evaluates patient tolerance and effectiveness of formulas and manages initiation or modifications to enteral/parenteral regimen orders.

Demonstrates extensive knowledge of specialized nutrition support (parenteral and enteral) and triages issues and concerns through collaboration with physicians and pharmacy.

Communicates findings to the medical team through medical record documentation to ensure maximized reimbursement.

Provides medical nutrition therapy education to patients identified with moderate or severe malnutrition to improve patient outcomes and to positively impact inpatient readmission rates.

Participates in Quality Assessment Performance Improvement (QAPI) efforts to ensure nutrition care is safe and effective for patients.

Maintains regulatory readiness.

Supports department clinical initiatives to ensure compliance with safety initiatives, policies, and procedures, DNV regulations, and department standards.

Identifies and documents billable nutrition diagnosis with supporting documentation.

May provide clinical support to various hospital-based outpatient medical destination programs (e.g., cancer center, transplant clinic, digestive health programs, bariatric, cardiac rehab, heart failure, etc.).

Enters charges for outpatient nutrition charge capture in electronic medical record.

Supports partnerships with local didactic programs by precepting dietetic graduate students in clinical nutrition and/or foodservice management.

Directs and monitors interns’ progress both daily and at designated touchpoints and provides feedback for growth and development.

Collaborates routinely with discharge planners, home health, physicians, pharmacy, and other interdisciplinary teams to address the full scope of the system-established priority points protocol for inpatient care.

Participates in interdisciplinary team rounds, meetings, and care conferences to coordinate and collaborate on nutrition goals.

Assists (via in-person or remote coverage) other sites throughout the State, as needed, to provide clinical nutrition coverage to assure equitable patient care.

Qualifications

Licensure, Registration, And/or Certification Required:

• Dietitian certification issued by the Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR)
• Dietitian (RD) registration with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Licensure by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IL only)
• Certification by the Department of Safety and Professional Services (WI only)

Education Required:

• Minimum of Bachelor's Degree (if CDR registration eligibility is obtained prior to January 1, 2024)
• Minimum of Graduate Degree (master’s, practice doctorate, or doctoral) (if initial CDR registration is obtained on or after January 1, 2024)
• Successful completion of Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) accredited supervised practice program.

Experience Required:

• Didactic experience in clinical nutrition from an ACEND approved program.

Skills & Abilities

• Advanced knowledge in clinical nutrition and Nutrition Focused Physical Exams
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent organization, decision-making, time management, and problem-solving skills

Physical Requirements And Working Conditions

• Must be able to sit, stand, walk, lift, squat, bend, reach above shoulders and twist frequently during the work shift.
• Will occasionally be required to lift 25 pounds.
• Must have functional vision, hearing, speech, and touch.
• May need to work remotely and assist other sites as needed.
• Operates all equipment necessary to perform the job.
• Exposed to a normal office environment.