Dietitian (Clinical)

Job Title

Dietitian

Duties

Our 120-bed Community Living Center (CLC) provides long-term care, short-term rehabilitation, memory care, palliative care, and hospice services. Our residents present with a wide range of medical conditions including dementia, spinal cord injury, oncology, renal disease, diabetes, wound healing, and enteral nutrition needs. The CLC fosters a strong interdisciplinary culture where dietitians are highly valued by physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, pharmacists, and nursing staff. The new CLC dietitian will join a supportive team that includes 2.0 FTE RDs and 1.5 FTE Diet Health Technicians. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Conducts comprehensive nutrition assessments using the Nutritional Care Process (NCP), including nutrition focused physical examinations, to establish a nutrition diagnosis and determine risk and/or degree of malnutrition.
• Develops and implements Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) to address the nutrition diagnosis, evaluates and monitors the effectiveness and outcomes of MNT interventions. Modifies the plan as needed to achieve positive patient outcomes.
• Calculates nutrient requirements and necessary diet restrictions or food and drug interactions tailoring the diet prescription to each individual patient.
• Documents MNT in the medical record using the Assessment, Diagnosis, Intervention, Monitoring, Evaluation (ADIME) format.
• Functions independently and accurately when record keeping.
• Identifies patients in need of nutritional support and recommends the appropriate mode of support and communicates appropriately with the health care team.
• Actively participates in formal and informal interdisciplinary team meetings.
• Assesses educational needs and provides nutrition education/counseling for individuals and groups that is tailored to the Veteran(s).
• Utilizes virtual care technology to improve access to care.
• Maintains productivity standards.
• Maintains accurate record keeping of daily clinical activities and completes patient encounters using approved systems.
• Ensures continuous improvement of safe and quality care of Veterans.
• Leads activities in the implementation of new initiatives. Uses data in the development of measures, data evaluation, and initiation of corrective actions.
• Complies with The Joint Commission requirements and other accrediting agency standards to ensure safe and quality patient care.
• Collaborates with the Food Operations Section and department leadership to enhance the Veterans' dining experience, support patient satisfaction, and serve as a liaison between clinical units and the Food Operations Section.
• May perform other related duties as assigned which are appropriate for this grade and assignment.
• Additional responsibilities include providing coverage for acute care medical/surgical units, acute mental health units, and Domiciliary residential rehabilitation program, as well as participating in weekend and holiday rotations.
• During hurricanes or other emergencies, CLC dietitians are expected to support emergency response efforts, with at least one RD staying on-site.