Clinical Dietitian I - Ambulatory

Children's National Hospital

5d • $54,683 - $91,146

About The Position

The Clinical Dietitian I provides clinical nutrition services, including nutrition assessment, modified diet formulation, self-management training, and nutrition intervention. The role supports patient satisfaction, quality care, regulatory compliance, and the safe and efficient use of resources. At least 70% of the workload must be in an identified specialty area, such as NICU, bariatric, renal, cardiac, diabetes, nutrition support, transplant, oncology, pediatrics, or outpatient services. Other specialty areas require approval from the Manager and Director.

The position assesses nutritional status and develops individualized nutrition care plans for patients across age groups. It applies evidence-based research and facility protocols to nutrition orders and nutrition-support therapies, within the employee’s training, competence, clinical privileges, and organizational policy. The role also collaborates with patients, families, and healthcare teams; supports quality improvement and patient satisfaction; and carries out documentation, staff education, food-service coordination, and facility safety responsibilities.

The position includes providing medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education through approved telehealth modalities. Telehealth duties include safeguarding private patient information when working from home, managing time independently, building therapeutic rapport remotely, incorporating feedback, submitting performance data, and attending online training or webinars as needed. The applicant must be credentialed as a Registered Dietitian through the Commission on Dietetic Registration and licensed in the District of Columbia within 90 days of employment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health Nutrition, Nutrition Science, Nutrition, Dietetics, or a related nutrition field; or, for new graduates starting after 2024, a master’s degree in nutrition or a clinical specialty.
• One year of experience and/or a completed internship; experience in maternal and child health is preferred.
• Credentialed as a Registered Dietitian through the Commission on Dietetic Registration within 90 days of employment.
• Licensed as a Registered Dietitian in the District of Columbia within 90 days of employment.
• Ability to read and interpret business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, and governmental regulations; write reports, correspondence, and procedure manuals; and present information and respond to questions from healthcare and other audiences.
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts, including proportions, percentages, and volume, and apply basic algebra.
• Ability to operate the hospital’s electronic medical record system and a standard computer, including Outlook, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions, interpret technical instructions, and manage abstract and concrete variables.
• Ability to work independently and manage time efficiently for telehealth work.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in maternal and child health.

Responsibilities

• Assess and document the nutritional status of neonatal, infant, pediatric, adolescent, adult, and/or geriatric patients using anthropometric measurements, nutrition-focused physical assessment, and laboratory values.
• Develop, revise, and individualize nutrition care plans using information from patients, medical records, families, and healthcare team members.
• Incorporate current evidence-based research into practice.
• Use physician- or referring-practitioner-driven protocols and facility-specific processes to implement, initiate, or modify diet and nutrition-related actions within training, competence, approved clinical privileges, and organizational policy.
• Use established protocols and processes to manage nutrition-support therapies within training, competence, approved clinical privileges, and organizational policy.
• Deliver programs and services in an organized, collaborative, and customer-centered manner, and participate in processes for obtaining ordering privileges for expanded roles and activities.
• Adhere to confidentiality, HIPAA, patient-rights, regulatory, infection-control, security, hazardous-materials, emergency-preparedness, life-safety, and other facility and department policies.
• Complete required documentation, reports, and logs accurately and on time.
• Communicate with team members, patients, and families through conferences, consultations, committee participation, and in-person, telephone, written, and electronic communication.
• Orient, mentor, and train staff and interns as applicable.
• Advise the department on patient-care and food-service issues, train patient-services staff on patients’ special dietary needs, and assist with modified menu planning in collaboration with food-service management.
• Participate in the facility-wide and departmental QAPI program and teams, meetings, staff development, patient-care rounds, and professional programs as appropriate.
• Visit patients on assigned nursing units and contribute to the goal of a management or professional team member visiting each patient at least once during the hospital stay.
• Support patient-satisfaction goals through quality service and customer-focused conduct.
• Respond to utility failures according to department policy and report incidents as required.
• Provide medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education to patients through approved telehealth modalities.
• Maintain a home telehealth workspace that safeguards private patient information and complies with applicable remote-work agreements.
• Work independently, manage time efficiently, build rapport with patients and care teams through approved telehealth modalities, and incorporate constructive feedback.
• Submit data for key performance indicators and attend online webinars and trainings as needed.
• Perform other assigned tasks.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, prescription, infertility, and transgender health coverage.
• Paid time off, including vacation accrual from day one, sick leave, holidays, and a personal day.
• 401(k) plan.
• Healthcare and dependent-care spending accounts.
• Employer-paid life, AD&D, and long-term disability coverage, with optional supplemental plans.
• Tuition assistance.
• Fitness resources.
• Employee assistance.
• Commuter benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level