Responsibilities:

• Under the guidance of a registered dietitian, provides direct patient care using medical nutrition therapy for an assigned patient population identified to be at moderate or low nutrition risk.
• Implements a nutritional care plan and communicates plan to dietitian and other health care team members.
• Establishes a follow-up system and maintains documentation in the medical record and in order entry/diet office software.
• Functions as a liaison between the Patient Food Service coordinators/hosts and the medical/dietitian staff ordering diets.
• Ensures that food provided to patients is compliant with the diet ordered.
• Communicates with physician and/or dietitian when diet order needs to be changed to better meet patient needs.
• Reviews/enters patient menus into computer as needed and process diet/nourishment changes
• . Actively contributes to departmental initiatives including committees and projects.
• Supports the dietetic internship as a supervised practice rotation preceptor.
• Completes reports for ongoing productivity tracking.
• Participates in professional growth activities, including attending and contributing to patient care rounds, conferences and seminars on nutrition and related topics.
• Participates in clinical research. Utilizes clinical software applications to facilitate care.
• Complies with all regulatory organizations including CMS, JCAHO, ADA and the policies and procedures of the department and Cleveland Clinic.
• Assists with the input, update, maintenance and inventory of systems in department.
• Performs systems integrity checks and runs reports.
• Inputs, codes and performs system checks on computer software such as PDA, Diet Office and the department nutrition registry.
• Performs nutrition analysis using dietetic software for recipes and diet records.
• Analyzes abstracts and codes pertinent information from data collected for a nutrition registry.
• Inputs, updates and assists with maintenance of the department nutrition registry.
• Corrects and completes errors or omissions detected by computer edit and validity checks.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education:

• Bachelor's of Science Degree in Nutrition or related field or Associate's Degree in Dietetic Technology.
• Ongoing evidence of continuing education in areas related to nutrition practice.
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to effectively use electronic communication tools.
• Demonstrated ability accept direction and function effectively with minimum direct supervision in an interdisciplinary environment.
• Ability to accept direction, to organize and prioritize time and to work effectively as a team member to communicate issues and resolve conflicts in a timely manner.

Certifications:

• Active certification as a Dietetic Technician Registered (DTR) with Associate's Degree and strongly encouraged with a Bachelor of Science Degree.

Complexity of Work:

• Requires critical thinking skills, decisive judgment, and the ability to work unsupervised or with minimal supervision.
• Must be able to work in a stressful environment and take appropriate action.

Work Experience:

• After selection and placement in the job, minimum three month's on-the-job training required, including classroom work, assignments, various shifts and rotation to various patient care areas.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to navigate extensively to provide services to a large number of patients throughout the hospital and manual dexterity sufficient to perform computer entry.
• Must have physical ability to measure and weigh patients.

Personal Protective Equipment:

• Follows standard precautions using personal protective equipment as required.