Clinical Nutritionist

Description

JOB PURPOSE OR MISSION: Manages physician ordered therapeutic diets, conducts nutrition assessments, and provides nutritional care education to patients. Performs job for the age population served, as defined in the department's scope of service.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

CRITERIA A: Everyday Excellence Values - Employee demonstrates Everyday Excellence values in the day-to-day performance of their job.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
•Demonstrates courtesy and caring to each other, patients and their families, physicians, and the community.
•Takes initiative in living our Everyday Excellence values and vital signs.
•Takes initiative in identifying customer needs before the customer asks.
•Participates in teamwork willingly and with enthusiasm.
•Demonstrates respect for the dignity and privacy needs of customers through personal action and attention to the environment of care.
•Keeps customers informed, answers customer questions and anticipates information needs of customers.

CRITERIA B: Corporate Compliance - Employee demonstrates commitment to the Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest Guidelines, and the GHS Corporate Compliance Guidelines.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
•Practices diligence in fulfilling the regulatory and legal requirements of the position and department.
•Maintains accurate and reliable patient/organizational records.
•Maintains professional relationships with appropriate officials; communicates honesty and completely; behaves in a fair and nondiscriminatory manner in all professional contacts.

CRITERIA C: Personal Achievement - Employee demonstrates initiative in achieving work goals and meeting personal objectives.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
•Uses accepted procedures and practices to complete assignments. Uses creative and proactive solutions to achieve objectives even when workload and demands are high.
•Adheres to high moral principles of honesty, loyalty, sincerity, and fairness.
•Upholds the ethical standards of the organization.

CRITERIA D: Performance Improvement - Employee actively participates in Performance Improvement activities and incorporates quality improvement standards in his/her job performance.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
•Optimizes talents, skills, and abilities in achieving excellence in meeting and exceeding customer expectations.
•Initiates or redesigns to continuously improve work processes.
•Contributes ideas and suggestions to improve approaches to work processes.
•Willingly participates in organization and/or department quality initiatives.

CRITERIA E: Cost Management - Employee demonstrates effective cost management practices.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
•Effectively manages time and resources
•Makes conscious effort to effectively utilize the resources of the organization - material, human, and financial.
•Consistently looks for and uses resource saving processes.

CRITERIA F: Patient & Employee Safety - Employee actively participates in and demonstrates effective patient and employee safety practices.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
•Employee effectively communicates, demonstrates, coordinates and emphasizes patient and employee safety.
•Employee proactively reports errors, potential errors, injuries or potential injuries.
•Employee demonstrates departmental specific patient and employee safety standards at all times.
•Employee demonstrates the use of proper safety techniques, equipment and devices and follows safety policies, procedures and plans.

JOB FUNCTIONS

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS include, but are not limited to:

1. Performs nutritional assessments.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
•Upon receipt of a medical nutrition therapy order, reviews and interprets the order to ensure accuracy and to check if prescribed diet is within guidelines.
•Consistently checks medical nutrition therapy order received with patient's medical records.
•Interviews patients to obtain information regarding food habits and preferences for guidance in planning the patient's diet.
•Recommends oral diet, tube feedings, and total parenteral nutrition with considerations on lab values.
•Recommends calorie and protein requirements with considerations of risk factors.

2. Develops and implements a plan of care based on assessment of nutritional needs and correlated with other health care plans.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
•Calculates medical nutrition therapy order and provides nutrition counseling for all patients on medical nutrition therapy orders who require intervention.
•Maintains accurate record of medical nutrition therapy instructions performed and individual meal pattern if appropriate.
•Charts appropriately and accurately in the patient medical record after each patient contact.
•Accurately calculates tube feedings giving volume, concentration and administration rate.

3. Provides nutrition evaluation by maintaining communications through written record systems with the health care team concerning dietary history, adequacy of food intake, education and the need for supplementation.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
•Inspects meals served for conformance to prescribed diets and standards of palatability and appearance.
•Monitors food intolerances, food/drug interactions, allergies and preference of patients including religious beliefs.
•Regularly monitors nutritional problems such as chewing and swallowing difficulties, and patients with poor appetite and/or intake.
•Maintains accurate record of each patient contact and the result of that contact.

4. Provides nutritional education to patients and staff.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:
•Provides medical nutrition therapy instructions for all modified medical nutrition therapy orders utilizing approved instruction materials and methods.
•Conducts nutrition education classes for in-patients, outpatients and staff.
•Serves as resource person in nutrition care for medical and nursing staff.
•Counsels with patients concerning nutritional principles and plans adjusted to individual needs.
•Upon physician's request, gives formal instruction on diet modifications for home use, including the importance of the diet in relation to disease.
•Complies and develops educational materials and uses them as aids in nutrition education.

5. Performs all other duties as assigned.

SPECIAL SKILL, LICENSE AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENTS
Possession of a permanent or provisional Louisiana dietitian/nutritionist license

HIPAA REQUIREMENTS:
Maintains knowledge of and adherence to all applicable HIPAA regulations appropriate to Job Position including but not limited to: Paper and electronic medical records without limitation, patient demographics, lab and radiology results, surgery/appointment schedules, medical records related to quality/data, patients related complaints, information related to patient location, religious beliefs, research information and RP computer systems.

SAFETY REQUIREMENTS:
Maintains knowledge of and adherence to all applicable safety practices appropriate to Job Position including but not limited to: Incident reporting, handling wastes, sharps and linens, PPE, exposure control plans, hand washing, environment of care, patient identification, receives orders for patients, and monitoring clinical alarms.

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