Nutrition and Dietetics Technician

**Position Overview**:
The Nutrition and Dietetics Technician, Registered (NDTR / DTR) Hospital/Acute Care provides food and nutrition services to patients under the supervision of a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). Primary responsibilities include nutrition screening and participation in the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) as determined by the RDN for nutrition assessment, developing and implementing nutrition intervention/plan of care such as following up on nutrition screening completed by nursing, documenting medical, food, and nutrition-related data, reviewing patient menus for conformance to diet order, providing individualized or group nutrition education, monitoring meal, snack and/or medical food intake to contribute to evaluating of the patient’s progress and revision of intervention/plan of care, if indicated; monitoring the quality and accuracy of food served to patients; and maintaining professional competency and skills required for professional practice. The Dietetic Technician maintains productivity standards and practices, effective time management to prioritize tasks, and uses department nutrition resources prudently.

The NDTR assists the Clinical Nutrition Manager in matters relating to quality assurance, productivity, menu development, patient educational materials, participates on hospital committees, planning and employee/staff training, (as needed). Responsible for personnel development and orientation. The NDTR assists in supporting the highest possible patient satisfaction levels, ensuring program effectiveness and achievement of Hospital and Food and Nutrition Service goals.

**Position Responsibilities**:

- **Patient Care **_

Nutrition Assessment - the RDN solicits input as the dietetic technician:

- Completes and documents nutrition screening within 24 hours of inpatient admission according to facility/state/accreditation requirements.
- Using medical record and interview with patient/family collects food and nutrition intake information (e.g., current, and previous diets, nutrition support, meal and snack patterns, medical food/nutritional supplements, typical foods and beverages, cultural and religious preferences, and food allergies and intolerances), and reviews for factors that affect health conditions and nutritional risk.
- Obtains medical, anthropometric, biochemical, and medical test data and compares to standards provided by the RDN.
- Documents nutrition-related data, patient/family interactions in electronic medical record, and food and nutrition documentation system according to procedure.
- Communicates results of nutrition screening, diet order, and data collection for nutrition assessment to RDN; and meal service-related data of immediate concern to diet office staff.
- Communicates with nursing or other staff as needed to obtain or clarify information to inform nutrition assessment to report to RDN.
- **Nutrition Intervention/Plan of Care**_
- Communicates with RDN about discussions with patient/family and observed changes in patient’s status that may influence the nutrition intervention/plan of care.
- Contributes to and implements nutrition intervention/plan of care developed by the RDN.
- Participates in interprofessional team rounds/meetings with or representing the RDN to contribute food and nutrition related data for a patient’s plan of care and transitions of care planning, when applicable.
- Reviews plan of care with resident/family, nursing staff, addressing, or referring any concerns to the RDN as needed.
- Adjusts menus as needed to comply with diet order and resident preferences consistent with facility diet manual and RDN instructions.
- Provides nutrition education per plan of care to help patients voluntarily manage or modify food choices and eating behavior to maintain or improve health.
- Plans between-meal nourishments according to patient’s diet and food preferences.
- Plans and corrects menus for patients on specialized diets based on established guidelines and individualized menus.
- Identifies resources and/or referrals as needed to report to RDN.
- **Nutrition Monitoring and Evaluation - the RDN solicits input as the dietetic technician.**_
- Utilizes techniques that consider the varied needs of age-specific populations as well as cultural, religious, and ethnic concerns.
- Evaluates food and intake from all sources.
- Monitors progress through checking patient/family understanding of learned skills and follow through with plan.
- Monitors whether the intervention(s) is being implemented as prescribed, identifying data and information impacting effectiveness of intervention/plan of care.
- Compares current data findings with previous status, intervention goals, and/or reference standards for evaluation of outcomes.
- Documents progress toward nutrition goals, factors/barriers impacting progress, change in patient’s/family’s level of understand and food-related behaviors, and relevant biochemical, anthropometric, meal in