Clinical Dietitian I - Nutrition Services

Clinical Dietitian I - Nutrition Services

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*This position qualifies for a $7,500 Commitment Incentive paid over a two (2) year period.*

Job Summary:

The Clinical Dietitian collaborates closely with the multidisciplinary care team to provide evidence-based medical nutrition therapy that supports patient-centered health goals. This role is fully integrated within the interdisciplinary clinical teams at the UNC Center for Transplant Care.

The UNC Center for Transplant is a comprehensive transplant program offering heart, lung, liver, kidney, and chronic pancreatitis transplants, including living donor procedures. Through the partnership between UNC Hospitals and UNC Chapel Hill, patients benefit from access to leading researchers and innovative therapies. This integration of clinical expertise and groundbreaking research ensures optimal care and improved outcomes for all patients.

The Clinical Dietitian plays a critical role in transplant care by providing nutrition screening, education, and interventions for transplant candidates, recipients, and living donors. Patients are seen at multiple points across the transplant continuum, including inpatient hospitalizations and outpatient clinic visits, to ensure nutrition care aligns with accreditation standards and comprehensive transplant protocols.

Primary responsibilities include implementing the Nutrition Care Process by performing nutrition-focused physical exams, assessing for malnutrition, providing patient education, and delivering tailored interventions with ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The Clinical Dietitian utilizes practice-specific dietetics and evidence-based guidelines to guide care, incorporates social determinants of health into assessments, manages resources efficiently, and contributes to accreditation and quality improvement initiatives.

This position primarily serves kidney transplant patients, with additional responsibilities providing cross-coverage for other organ transplant programs, including living donor care.

Responsibilities:

• Assesses nutritional needs using standardized practice and critical thinking. Identifies nutrient requirements according to age, disease and individual needs for assigned patients. Demonstrates clinical and age specific competency as evidenced by clinical competency tools, forms, chart audits, tests, observation, etc.
• Acts as a resource person for the specialty team assigned and serves as a liaison between other medical specialties and ancillary services.
• Assists in achieving compliance with the Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP), or other accrediting agency standards to continuously improve the safety and quality of care to the public and to the organization's performance improvement.
• Attends medical rounds, patient care conferences, and continuing education/staff meetings. Participates in quality improvement initiatives and cross training.
• Develops, implements, and monitors nutrition care plans and participates in the discharge planning process. Provides education using established behavioral change techniques.
• May lead, direct, and manage the work assigned to others within the department. Documents all aspects of nutrition care in the medical record. Demonstrates compliance with regulatory agency standards as evidenced by timely completion of clinical nutrition workload as evidenced by chart audits and organizational / regulatory agency surveys.
• Participates in the training of clinical nutrition intern students by acting as preceptors throughout the year as assigned.