Food & Nutrition Dietitian NEX

American Addiction Centers • Chicago, IL

3d • $31 - $46 • Hybrid

About The Position

This is a part-time position for a Food & Nutrition Dietitian at Advocate Trinity Hospital. The role involves providing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) to hospital inpatients, including screening, assessment, intervention, and developing individualized care plans. The dietitian will also be responsible for prescribing and managing enteral and parenteral nutrition support, collaborating with physicians and pharmacy, and documenting care in the electronic medical record. Additionally, the position involves patient education, leading malnutrition prevention efforts, participating in quality improvement initiatives, and potentially supporting outpatient programs. The role also includes precepting dietetic students and medical residents, and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams for patient discharge planning. There may be a need to travel between work sites and assist other sites remotely.

Requirements

• Dietitian certification issued by the Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR)
• Dietitian (RD) registration with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Licensure by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IL only)
• Certification by the Department of Safety and Professional Services (WI only)
• Minimum of Bachelor's Degree (if CDR registration eligibility is obtained prior to January 1, 2024) or Minimum of Graduate Degree (master’s, practice doctorate, or doctoral) (if initial CDR registration is obtained on or after January 1, 2024)
• Successful completion of Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) accredited supervised practice program.
• Didactic experience in clinical nutrition from an ACEND approved program.
• Advanced knowledge in clinical nutrition and Nutrition Focused Physical Exams
• Ability to respond to the needs of a diverse patient population.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organization, decision-making, time management, and problem-solving skills

Responsibilities

• Provides ongoing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) care for the entire hospital inpatient census through screening, prioritizing, assessing, and recommending interventions.
• Adapts daily workflow to accommodate fluctuations in patient load due to daily census variations, consults, acuity, and staffing challenges.
• Develops and implements a plan of care for patients based on an expert assessment of life cycle- and diagnosis-specific nutritional needs.
• Assesses patients by reviewing medical history, laboratory data, conducting patient interviews, and performing physical examinations to determine current nutritional status.
• Develops and implements individualized nutrition plan of care interventions based on assessment.
• Documents medical nutrition therapy plan of care in the electronic medical record, adhering to clinical documentation and coding standards to maximize reimbursement.
• Prescribes enteral and parenteral nutrition support orders by assessing patients and calculating macronutrients, micronutrients, fluid, and electrolytes.
• Evaluates patient tolerance and effectiveness of formulas and manages initiation or modifications to enteral/parenteral regimen orders.
• Demonstrates extensive knowledge of specialized nutrition support (parenteral and enteral) and triages issues and concerns through collaboration with physicians and pharmacy.
• Maintains secure communication with the system-level Pharmacy Integrated Clinical Services (PICS) team to manage and order Total Parental Nutrition (TPN) infusions for critically ill patients.
• Prescribes orders for therapeutic diets, oral nutrition supplements, and nutrition support regimens, including vitamins/minerals, fluid management, and lab work as indicated within the scope of the Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) protocol.
• Utilizes order-writing privileges to implement nutrition-related orders.
• Collaborates with the Food and Nutrition patient services team to ensure patient intake aligns with nutrition prescription and interdisciplinary plan of care.
• Partners with the site patient services team to identify and recommend appropriate clinical nutrition formula and supplement substitutions during supply chain disruptions.
• Partners with physicians, nursing, and nutrition patient services to ensure diet restrictions, allergy restrictions, supplement preferences, and tube feedings are consistent with patient needs and personal, religious, and cultural preferences.
• Develops patient-specific menus for patients with complex dietary needs.
• Leads efforts to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition.
• Performs Nutrition Focused Physical Examinations of high-risk patients to evaluate the loss of specific muscles and subcutaneous body fat.
• Communicates findings to the medical team through medical record documentation to ensure maximized reimbursement.
• Provides medical nutrition therapy education to patients identified with moderate or severe malnutrition.
• Routinely documents elements of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score (GMCS) for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Nutrition Electronic Quality Indicators.
• Participates in Quality Assessment Performance Improvement (QAPI) efforts to ensure nutrition care is safe and effective.
• Maintains regulatory readiness and supports department clinical initiatives to ensure compliance with safety initiatives, policies, procedures, DNV regulations, and department standards.
• Identifies and documents billable nutrition diagnoses with supporting documentation.
• May provide clinical support to various hospital-based outpatient medical destination programs.
• Enters charges for outpatient nutrition charge capture in the electronic medical record.
• Supports partnerships with local didactic programs by precepting dietetic graduate students in clinical nutrition and/or foodservice management.
• Directs and monitors interns’ progress and provides feedback for growth and development.
• Communicates regularly with didactic program coordinators.
• Precepts medical residents and provides nutrition orientation as applicable.
• Provides nutrition lectures to medical residents.
• Collaborates routinely with discharge planners, home health, physicians, pharmacy, and other interdisciplinary teams to address the full scope of the system-established priority points protocol for inpatient care.
• Participates in interdisciplinary team rounds, meetings, and care conferences to coordinate and collaborate on nutrition goals.
• Assists with transition to home or outside facilities by partnering with Care Management and/or Home Health to coordinate home enteral and/or parenteral nutrition needs.
• Provides medical nutrition therapy education to patients on prescribed diet to improve patient knowledge and understanding of nutrition, diet therapy, and compliance.
• May provide nutrition in-services to teammates.
• Provides clinical input into system clinical nutrition initiatives and practice changes.
• Participates in system subgroups/projects to develop and implement evidence-based nutrition practices, clinical initiatives, and/or practice changes.
• Partners with system patient services and clinical teams to deploy system changes and updates regarding CBORD, EPIC, menus, emergency preparedness, downtime processes, formulary, clinical procedures, and policies.
• Liaisons between clinical nutrition and inpatient nursing and physicians to champion system clinical nutrition initiatives.
• Assists other sites throughout the State, as needed, to provide clinical nutrition coverage to assure equitable patient care.

Benefits

• Paid Time Off programs
• medical, dental, vision, life, and Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts for eligible health care and dependent care expenses
• adoption assistance and paid parental leave
• Defined contribution retirement plans with employer match and other financial wellness programs
• Educational Assistance Program

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Mid Level