Clinical Dietitian
POSITION SUMMARY
The Dietitian provides nutrition services to residents living in a long term care setting and works closely with the multidisciplinary healthcare team to provide patient care that is integrated and compatible with the patient-focused medical goals and objectives. Primary responsibilities include application of the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) including completion of the nutrition assessment, determination of the nutrition diagnosis, developing and implementing nutrition intervention(s), and monitoring and evaluating of the patient’s progress. The Clinical Dietitian uses the Scope of Dietetics Practice Framework (SODPF) to determine scope of practice, established Standards of Practice and Professional Performance (SOP/SOPP) in nutrition care and practice-specific dietetics, and, as available, evidence-based practice protocols/nutrition practice guidelines to help determine nutrition intervention(s).
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES
- Skills/Abilities
- Knowledge of the Nutrition Care Process as it relates to the needs of geriatric patients and ability to apply all steps of the process.
- Comprehensive knowledge and application of nutrition services and medical nutrition therapy with emphasis on the geriatric population.
- Critical thinking to integrate facts, informed opinions, active listening, and observations.
- Decision making, problem solving and collaboration.
- Excellent counseling skills and the ability to relate to a multi-ethnic community and varied learning levels.
- Strong interpersonal skills to establish productive working relationships with multidisciplinary team and support services.
- Ability to communicate effectively in both written and verbal form to patients, public, medical staff, and physicians.
- Ability to function independently on assigned patient care units and/or outpatient clinics.
- General knowledge of nutrient analysis, word processing, and spreadsheet software.
- Notify supervising dietitian of assessments that need to be co-signed.
- Nutrition Assessment
- Conducts a nutrition assessment when warranted by a resident’s needs or conditions.
- Ensures that Minimum Data Set (MDS) forms are completed and documents results and recommendations in the medical record as requested by facility.
- Reviews dietary intake for factors that affect health conditions and nutritional risk.
- Supervises culinary director’s screening and data collection activities. Trains the dietetic technician and registered or certified dietary manager on appropriate documentation procedures.
- Evaluates health and disease condition for nutrition-related consequences.
- Evaluates psychosocial, functional, and behavioral factors related to food access, selection, and preparation; physical activity; and understanding of health condition.
- Evaluates resident’s knowledge, readiness to learn, and potential for changing behaviors.
- Identifies standards by which data will be compared.
- Identifies possible problem areas for making nutrition diagnoses.
- Observes resident for nonverbal and verbal cues that can guide and prompt effective interviewing methods.
- Determines appropriate data to collect.
- Selects assessment tools and procedures (matching the assessment method to the situation) and applies assessment tools in valid and reliable ways.
- Distinguishes relevant from irrelevant data and important from unimportant data, and validates the data.
- Organizes and categorizes the data in a meaningful framework that relates to nutrition problems.
- Determines when a problem requires consultation with or referral to another provider.
- Nutrition Diagnosis
- Finds patterns and relationships among the data and possible causes for the nutrition problem.
- Prioritizes the relative importance of problems for resident’s safety.
- Documents the nutrition diagnostic statement in PES (problem, etiology, and signs/symptom) or PE format.
- Nutritional Intervention
- Formulates and determines a plan of action that is focused on the etiology of the problem and known to be effective based on best current knowledge and evidence from Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guidelines.
- Assesses educational needs and provides nutrition counseling for residents and/or families based on individual needs, including nutrient requirements, knowledge and abilities, and medical, economic, and social situation.
- Evaluates achievement of learning objectives by the resident and/or family. Provides appropriate follow-up in accordance with residents’ treatment goals, referring residents for additional services as appropriate.
- As needed, delegates or coordinates nutrition plan of care with other healthcare professionals.
- Confers with resident, other caregivers or policies, and program standards in developing the intervention(s).
- Defines the intervention plan by writing the nutrition prescription and defining the time and frequency of care including intensity, duration, and follow-up.
- Identifies resources and/or referrals needed.
- Implements the nutrition intervention including communicating the plan of nutrition care.
- Provides appropriate follow-up in accordance with the resident’s treatment goals, referring residents for other services as appropriate.
- Collects data and modifies the plan of care as needed.
- Nutrition Monitoring and Evaluation
- Utilizes monitoring and evaluation techniques that consider the varied needs of age-specific populations as well as cultural, religious, and ethnic concerns.
- Conducts regular meal observations to ensure that residents are receiving and consuming food in the appropriate amount, type, consistency, and frequency to meet nutritional requirements.
- Maintains ongoing communication with the resident’s referring physician and other healthcare providers to ensure continuity of care.
- Monitors progress through checking resident’s understanding and compliance with plan; determines whether the intervention is being implemented as prescribed; provides evidence that the plan/intervention strategy is or is not changing resident’s behavior or status; identifies other positive or negative outcomes; gathers information indicating reasons for lack of progress; and supports conclusions with evidence.
- Measures outcomes through selecting outcome indicators that are relevant to the nutrition diagnosis or signs or symptoms, nutrition goals, medical diagnosis, and outcomes and quality management goals and use of standardized indicators. Evaluates the effectiveness and measures progress toward outcomes of nutrition interventions.
- Evaluates outcomes by comparing current findings with previous status, intervention goals, and/or reference standards.
- Documents relevant, accurate, and timely information performed in steps in the Nutrition Care Process in the resident’s medical record or electronic medical record.
- Determines continuation of care based on whether the resident has met intervention goals.
- Communicates and influences treatment interventions determined by the medical team through interdisciplinary meetings, rounds, medical conferences, and nutrition-related in-services.
- Works cooperatively with foodservice staff to ensure conformance to nutrition prescriptions.
- Serves as a resource on food and nutrition issues to residents, residents’ families, and activities and healthcare staff.
- Assists in the education of dietetics students and interns. Plans learning experiences, teaches, and evaluates performance.
- Participates in discharge planning and public health surveys.
- FACILITY COMPLIANCE
- Promotes a highly positive workplace centered on strong customer service, inclusivity and ensuring staff feel welcome and supported.
- Demonstrates accountability for the proper use of patients’ protected health information imposed by regulatory requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.
- Ensures that care is delivered to each patient in accordance with the state form of dietetic regulation, licensing, certification, or registration.
- Assists in achieving compliance with the Joint Commission, 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.
- Complies with federal requirements set forth under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation (COP) in order to receive Medicare/Medicaid payment. Ensures state and local certifications for health, safety, and quality standards are met.
- May assist with mock surveys/food service/sanitation audits, assisting with budget control, other miscellaneous operational tasks.
- QUALIFICATIONS
- Education and Experience
- Must have a bachelor’s degree in dietetics, foods and nutrition, or related area, granted by a U.S. regionally accredited college or university.
- Completion of a didactic program in dietetics and supervised practice program approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of the American Dietetic Association.
- Must be registration eligible and licensed within 1 year of employment.
- Must be able to perform essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Must qualify for employment, after criminal background check, per guidelines of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
- Preferred
- Experience in healthcare, skilled nursing facility or assisted living community 1-2 years preferred.
- Required Skills and Abilities
- Ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and pivot with sudden demands of your attention.
- Resilience; ability to welcome constructive feedback, course correct and not take it personally.
- Personability; ability to get along with all personality types and inspire trust with residents, staff, family.
- High emotional intelligence (EQ).
- Ability to actively listen, with the goal of understanding.
- Ability to clearly speak and proficiently read and write in English.
- Comfort in operating in ambiguous situations and with diverse populations.
- Ability to thrive in an environment that is fast-paced and rapidly growing.
About Monarch:
Monarch’s mission is to change the way short term rehabilitation and long-term care is delivered. We strive to make patient care and customer service come together, putting the needs of our residents and their families first. We fulfill the communities need for health and housing, in a comfortable well equipped, pleasant home like atmosphere.
We could not provide this caliber of services without our dedicated employees. We value their contributions and work hard to attract and retain the best talent by offering a positive and supportive work environment along with competitive pay, nice perks, and great benefits.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
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