Food & Nutrition Dietitian - Pediatric

American Addiction Centers • Oak Lawn, IL

2d • $31 - $46 • Hybrid

About The Position

This position provides ongoing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) care for hospital inpatients, involving screening, prioritizing, assessing, and recommending interventions. The role requires adapting workflow to manage patient load fluctuations and developing individualized nutrition plans based on life cycle- and diagnosis-specific needs. Assessment involves reviewing medical history, laboratory data, patient interviews, and physical examinations. The dietitian will document MNT plans in the electronic medical record to support clinical documentation and coding standards for reimbursement. Additionally, the role involves prescribing enteral and parenteral nutrition support, evaluating patient tolerance, and managing orders. Collaboration with physicians, pharmacy, and the system-level Pharmacy Integrated Clinical Services (PICS) team is crucial for managing Total Parental Nutrition (TPN) for critically ill patients. The dietitian also prescribes therapeutic diets, oral nutrition supplements, and manages related lab work. Collaboration with Food and Nutrition patient services ensures patient intake aligns with nutrition prescriptions and care plans, and partners with site patient services to manage supply chain disruptions. The role ensures diet restrictions, allergies, and feeding preferences are consistent with patient needs and personal, religious, and cultural preferences, and develops patient-specific menus for complex dietary needs. A key responsibility is leading efforts to identify, treat, and prevent malnutrition through Nutrition Focused Physical Examinations and educating patients. The dietitian documents elements of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score (GMCS) for quality indicators, participates in QAPI efforts, and maintains regulatory readiness. The role identifies and documents billable nutrition diagnoses and may provide clinical support to outpatient programs, including charge capture. The position also involves precepting dietetic graduate students and medical residents, providing nutrition orientation and lectures. Collaboration with discharge planners, home health, physicians, pharmacy, and other interdisciplinary teams is essential for coordinating care, including home enteral and parenteral nutrition needs. Medical nutrition therapy education is provided to inpatients, outpatients, and family members. The dietitian contributes clinical input into system-wide initiatives, practice changes, and partners with teams to deploy system changes related to various platforms and procedures. They also serve as a liaison between clinical nutrition and inpatient nursing/physicians to champion initiatives and may provide remote coverage to other sites as needed.

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
• Must be able to sit, stand, walk, lift, squat, bend, reach above shoulders and twist frequently during the work shift.
• Will occasionally be required to lift 25 pounds.
• Must have functional vision, hearing, speech, and touch.
• May need to travel between work sites; therefore, may have exposure to weather-related hazards.
• May need to work remotely and assist other sites as needed.
• Operates all equipment necessary to perform the job.
• Exposed to a normal office environment.

Responsibilities

• Provides ongoing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) care for entire hospital inpatient census, through screening, prioritizing, assessing, and recommending interventions.
• Develops and implements a plan of care for patients based on an expert assessment of life cycle- and diagnosis-specific nutritional needs.
• Prescribes enteral and parenteral nutrition support orders by assessing the patient and calculating macronutrients and/or micronutrients, fluid, and electrolytes.
• Evaluates patient tolerance and effectiveness of formulas and manages initiation or modifications to enteral/parenteral regimen orders.
• 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.
• Collaborates with Food and Nutrition patient services team to ensure patient intake aligns with nutrition prescription and interdisciplinary plan of care.
• Partners with 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 admitted 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 to determine the presence of and degree of malnutrition.
• 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 to improve patient outcomes and to positively impact inpatient readmission rates.
• 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 for patients.
• Maintains regulatory readiness.
• Supports department clinical initiatives to ensure compliance with safety initiatives, policies, and procedures, DNV regulations, and department standards.
• Identifies and documents billable nutrition diagnosis with supporting documentation.
• May provide clinical support to various hospital-based outpatient medical destination programs.
• Enters charges for outpatient nutrition charge capture in 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 both daily and at designated touchpoints and provides feedback for growth and development.
• Communicates regularly with didactic program coordinator.
• Precepts medical residents and provides nutrition orientation as applicable.
• Provides nutrition lectures to medical residents for internal medicine, trauma, NICU/Peds, and family practice, as applicable.
• 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, per established priority system, to improve patient knowledge/understanding of nutrition, diet therapy and compliance on prescribed diet.
• Provides nutrition in-services to teammates, as applicable.
• Provides clinical input into system clinical nutrition initiatives and practice changes.
• Participates in system subgroups/projects, as assigned, 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 (via in-person or remote coverage) other sites throughout the State, as needed, to provide clinical nutrition coverage to assure equitable patient care.

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision, life, and Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts for eligible health care and dependent care expenses
• adoption assistance
• 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