Description

Embrace the opportunity to make a difference in the health and well-being of our community as a Dietitian at Klickitat Valley Health. We are seeking a dedicated and experienced professional to join our team and play a vital role in promoting nutritional health in a rural healthcare setting. If you are passionate about providing personalized dietary guidance, collaborating with healthcare teams, and making a positive impact on the lives of individuals in a close-knit community, we invite you to contribute your expertise to KVH. Join us in fostering a culture of wellness and delivering exceptional dietary care to our patients and employees.

Klickitat Valley Health is a rural, critical-access hospital located in scenic Goldendale, Washington only two hours from Portland along the breathtaking Columbia River Gorge. KVH offers emergency and acute inpatient care and a full scope of ancillary services including General Surgery, Diagnostic Imaging, Laboratory, Respiratory Therapy, PT / OT, Behavioral Health, Dental, Pain Management, and Hospice. The hospital also owns a busy, well-established primary clinic that is located on the hospital campus. Inpatient care is managed by 24/7 Hospitalist staff. KVH employs over 300 staff.

GENERAL SUMMARY:
Registered Dietitians are vital in promoting the health and well-being of patients through personalized nutrition care. Their role extends beyond just dietary recommendations and involves working as part of a healthcare team to provide comprehensive care to patients with diverse medical conditions and dietary needs. The Dietician provides clinical nutrition services and medical nutrition therapy that is integrated and compatible with the patient’s medical program goals and objectives. Primary responsibilities include developing and implementing nutrition services and medical nutrition therapy for patients in a variety of settings using established standards of care and practice protocols/guidelines.

Qualifications

Minimum Education, Training & Experience (includes licenses or certifications):

• Active licensure in the State of Washington as a Certified Dietician, or ability to obtain within 60 days
• Active RD (Registered Dietician) or RDN (Registered Dietician Nutritionist) through the Commission on Dietetic Registration.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Clinical Knowledge: In-depth understanding of medical conditions and their impact on nutrition, as well as the ability to interpret lab results and medical records.
• Nutritional Expertise: Profound knowledge of nutrition science, dietary guidelines, and therapeutic diets, as well as the ability to apply this knowledge to develop appropriate dietary plans.
• Assessment Skills: The ability to conduct comprehensive nutritional assessments, including anthropometric measurements, diet histories, and subjective global assessments.
• Communication: Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively convey complex nutritional information to patients and healthcare teams.
• Empathy: Compassion and understanding when working with patients who may have dietary restrictions or medical conditions affecting their nutritional needs.
• Counseling: Skills to effectively provide dietary counseling and support to patients of a variety of ages, backgrounds and learning styles in a sensitive and empathetic manner.
• Computer Proficiency: Familiarity with relevant software and tools for nutritional assessment, documentation, and data analysis.
• Regulatory Compliance: Knowledge of and adherence to relevant regulations, codes of ethics, and best practices in the field of dietetics.
• Time Management: Ability to prioritize and manage multiple patient cases, ensuring timely and effective care.

GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Patient Care

• Conducts a nutrition assessment for patients at nutrition risk. Obtains timely and appropriate data and analyzes/interprets data based on evidence-based standards.
• Performs nutrition diagnosis after identifying the problem and clarifying the cause of the problem.
• Develops and implements an individualized plan for nutrition intervention in accordance with the patient’s medical program goals and objective, nutrition prescription, and self-management training. May require development of a therapeutic plan for specialized nutrition support, including enteral and parenteral nutrition.
• Utilizes assessment and evaluation techniques that consider the varied needs of age-specific populations as well as cultural, religious and ethnic concerns.
• Evaluates the effectiveness and measures progress towards outcomes of medical nutrition therapy interventions. Reassesses nutrition care process and implements changes as indicated.
• Communicates with the medical team through interdisciplinary meetings, rounds, and medical conferences.
• Provides appropriate documentation that summarizes the nutrition care plan in the patient’s medical record including nutrition assessment, diagnosis, plan, implementation, and progress toward goals.
• Works cooperatively with food service staff to assure conformance to diet prescription.
• Demonstrates accountability for the proper use of patients’ protected health information.

Dietary Department Oversight

• Approves monthly dietary plans for inpatient units, ensuring that all dietary requirements are met
• Oversees food safety functions in the Dietary Department including temperature logs

Business-Related Functions

• Maintains productivity standards and practices effective time management and prioritizing of tasks.
• Maintains accurate record keeping of daily clinical activities including information for billing.
• Manages resources (time and materials) in a cost-effective manner.
• Assists in developing and revising patient education materials, clinical forms and practice guidelines.
• Supports and promotes KVH infection control, safety, risk management and customer relation programs.
• Assists in achieving compliance with DNV standards.

 Nutrition Education

• Assesses educational needs and provides nutrition counseling for individuals and groups.
• Evaluates achievement of learning objectives by the patient and/or family. Provides appropriate follow-up in accordance with the patient’s treatment goals, referring patients for outpatient counseling, community or home health services as appropriate.
• Serves as a resource to medical staff and allied health personnel on nutrition issues.
• Conducts in-services and educational presentations to hospital/department staff.

Demonstrates support for Continuous Quality Improvement.

• Identifies and collects performance improvement data, monitors outcomes, and initiates corrective actions.
• Participates in KVH quality improvement efforts
• Participates in planning and developing nutrition-related policies, procedures, and goals.