Dietetic Technician (2622) - Department of Public Health - (EXEMPT)

City and County of San Francisco•San Francisco, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Under supervision of the Chief Dietitian, the Dietetic Technician performs specialized paraprofessional clinical duties in a hospital nutrition program. The essential functions of the job include, but are not limited to, assisting the Dietitian in collecting basic nutritionally relevant patient/resident data for nutritional screening and preliminary nutritional risk evaluation. This involves interviewing patients/residents to obtain food preferences, diet history, and related information, and discussing patient/resident needs with the healthcare team. In an acute care setting, the technician determines if a patient/resident requires a nutritional assessment by a Registered Dietitian. In a skilled nursing setting, they determine the urgency of a nutritional assessment, care plan, and intervention performed by a Registered Dietitian. The role also involves assisting the Dietitian in providing nutritional education for patients/residents and their families, reviewing current dietary practices, evaluating understanding and compliance, and making recommendations for follow-up education. The technician collects pertinent clinical data from medical records to identify nutrition problems, uses approved documentation standards to chart nutritional information, and assists the Dietitian in performing nutritional analysis by calculating and analyzing food and fluid intake, weight records, menu patterns, and enteral nutrition formula orders. Additionally, the technician assists the Dietitian in implementing patient/resident nutritional preferences and monitoring care plans, retrieving clinical information, generating reports, and performing other duties using computerized systems. The 2622 Dietetic Technician may perform other duties as assigned/required.

Requirements

Possession of a credential as a Registered Dietetic Technician approved by the American Dietetic Association.
Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.
One-year full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week).

Responsibilities

Assists Dietitian in collecting basic nutritionally relevant patient/resident data to perform nutritional screening and preliminary nutritional risk evaluation
Interviews patients/residents to obtain food preferences, diet history, and related information
Discusses patient/resident needs with the health care team
In an acute care setting, determines whether the patient/resident may require a nutritional assessment which is performed by a Registered Dietitian
In a skilled nursing setting, determines the immediacy/urgency of a nutritional assessment, care plan, and intervention that is performed by a Registered Dietitian
Assists Dietitian in providing nutritional education for patient/resident and their families involving principles of special therapeutic diets
Reviews current dietary practices of patient/resident and their families
Evaluates patient/resident understanding and expected level of compliance
Makes recommendations for follow up education
Collects pertinent clinical data from patient/resident medical records in order to accurately identify current nutrition problems
Utilizes approved, institution specific documentation standards to chart pertinent nutritional information into patient/resident medical record
Assists Dietitian in performing nutritional analysis
Calculates and analyzes patient/resident food and fluid intake, weight records, menu patterns, and enteral nutrition formula orders
Assists Dietitian in implementing patient/resident nutritional preferences and monitor care plans
Retrieves clinical information
Generates reports and performs other duties utilizing computerized systems