About This Role
The Registered Dietitian provides nutritional services to patients, focusing on maximizing their nutritional status and improving clinical outcomes. This role involves functioning as a member of the interdisciplinary healthcare team, supporting quality enhancement and performance improvement activities, and actively participating in process improvement to help patients achieve their individualized goals.
Responsibilities
- Assess patient's knowledge of diet and kidney disease and provide appropriate education
- Provide patient-specific detailed education to patient/family/caregiver regarding nutritional status, adequacy measures, fluid status, and nutrition-related lab parameters
- Complete nutritional assessments and participate in interdisciplinary comprehensive assessments
- Participate with the interdisciplinary team in developing individualized comprehensive plans of care
- Calculate diet prescriptions according to standard practice
- Complete progress notes on all chronic dialysis patients according to established guidelines
- Maintain complete and accurate documentation in medical records
- Provide ongoing nutrition assessment and outcome-oriented nutrition counseling
- Identify malnourished patients and those at risk for malnutrition, working collaboratively with the interdisciplinary team for interventions
- Review each patient's albumin level and body weight at least monthly
- Implement plans of care with involvement of patient/family/caregiver
- Monitor adherence and response to nutrition therapy, adjusting as needed
- Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team on Urea Kinetic Modeling recommendations
- Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team on management and recommendations for mineral metabolism and renal bone disease, anemia and iron status, nutritional status, psychosocial status, vascular access, modality, rehabilitation status, and sodium/volume control
- Adhere to algorithm and medical record policies
- Report on nutrition QAI results and participate in the interdisciplinary QAI program
- Collaborate and coordinate with team members in providing Pre-ESRD education
- Work with Case Manager to coordinate plan of care for patient education and identify candidates for nutritional supplements, as per disease management agreements
- Review nutrition-related lab results, counsel patient/caregiver, and formulate appropriate action
- Recommend treatment changes to the interdisciplinary team as appropriate
- Communicate with physician and/or facility staff regarding lab results
- Communicate lab results and recommended treatment changes to providers of patient care in nursing facilities
- Participate in pertinent staff meetings and Care plan meetings
