Description
Provide medical nutrition therapy in clinical settings to promote health, manage disease, and support recovery. Assess patients, develop and implement individualized nutrition care plans, collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, monitor outcomes, and educate patients and families while ensuring compliance with clinical, safety, and quality standards.
- • Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and clinical status to develop and implement individualized medical nutrition therapy plans.
- • Consult with physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care personnel to determine nutrition needs, diet orders, and feeding regimens.
- • Advise patients and families on therapeutic diets, diet modifications, food selection, and preparation to manage medical conditions.
- • Counsel individuals and groups on healthy eating behaviors and nutrition monitoring to improve outcomes and reduce readmissions.
- • Interpret laboratory results, anthropometrics, medications, and diagnostic tests to inform nutrition recommendations.
- • Coordinate specialized nutrition support, including enteral and parenteral nutrition, and monitor tolerance and adequacy.
- • Monitor patient meal service and tray accuracy to ensure conformance to prescribed diets, safety, sanitation, and quality standards.
- • Develop and update clinical nutrition policies, protocols, and order sets to support evidence-based care.
- • Inspect meals and nourishments for conformance to diet orders and standards of palatability and appearance.
- • Develop and deliver patient, caregiver, and staff education materials, curricula, and in-service trainings.
- • Document assessments, diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes in the electronic medical record per regulatory standards.
- • Participate in interdisciplinary rounds and discharge planning to coordinate nutrition care and community referrals.
- • Coordinate and provide diet counseling services across inpatient and outpatient care settings.
- • Incorporate cultural, ethnic, and religious preferences into individualized nutrition care plans.
- • Record and evaluate patient medical, nutrition, and social histories, including allergies, medications, and environmental exposures.
- • Develop menus, recipes, or education to address special nutrition needs such as renal, cardiac, oncology, low glycemic, or allergen-free.
- • Plan, conduct, and evaluate clinical nutrition research or quality improvement projects and communicate findings in reports.
- • Prepare grant proposals to secure funding for clinical nutrition programs or research initiatives.
- • Train, mentor, and precept dietetic interns and new staff in clinical nutrition practice and standards.
- • Advise food service managers on therapeutic menu compliance, sanitation, safety procedures, and regulatory requirements.
- • Participate in product evaluations for clinical nutrition formulary items and feeding equipment.
- • Make recommendations that support accreditation, performance improvement, and hospital policies related to nutrition care.
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Healthcare & Human Services
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
