Clinical Dietitian I - Nutrition Services

Description

Become part of an inclusive organization with over 40,000 teammates, whose mission is to improve the health and well-being of the unique communities we serve.

Job Summary:

The Clinical Dietitian collaborates closely with the multidisciplinary care team to provide evidence-based medical nutrition therapy that supports patient-centered health goals. This role is fully integrated within the interdisciplinary clinical teams at the UNC Center for Transplant Care.

The UNC Center for Transplant is a comprehensive transplant program offering heart, lung, liver, kidney, and chronic pancreatitis transplants, including living donor procedures. Through the partnership between UNC Hospitals and UNC Chapel Hill, patients benefit from access to leading researchers and innovative therapies. This integration of clinical expertise and groundbreaking research ensures optimal care and improved outcomes for all patients.

The Clinical Dietitian plays a critical role in transplant care by providing nutrition screening, education, and interventions for transplant candidates, recipients, and living donors. Patients are seen at multiple points across the transplant continuum, including inpatient hospitalizations and outpatient clinic visits, to ensure nutrition care aligns with accreditation standards and comprehensive transplant protocols.

Primary responsibilities include implementing the Nutrition Care Process by performing nutrition-focused physical exams, assessing for malnutrition, providing patient education, and delivering tailored interventions with ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The Clinical Dietitian utilizes practice-specific dietetics and evidence-based guidelines to guide care, incorporates social determinants of health into assessments, manages resources efficiently, and contributes to accreditation and quality improvement initiatives.

This position primarily serves kidney transplant patients, with additional responsibilities providing cross-coverage for other organ transplant programs, including living donor care.

Responsibilities:
1. Assesses nutritional needs using standardized practice and critical thinking. Identifies nutrient requirements according to age, disease and individual needs for assigned patients. Demonstrates clinical and age specific competency as evidenced by clinical competency tools, forms, chart audits, tests, observation, etc.
2. Acts as a resource person for the specialty team assigned and serves as a liaison between other medical specialties and ancillary services.
3. Assists in achieving compliance with the Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Healthcare Facilities AccreditationProgram (HFAP), or other accrediting agency standards to continuously improve the safety and quality of care to the public and to the organization's performance improvement
4. Attends medical rounds, patient care conferences, and continuing education/staff meetings. Participates in quality improvement initiatives and cross training
5. Develops, implements, and monitors nutrition care plans and participates in the discharge planning process. Provides education using established behavioral change techniques.
6. May lead, direct, and manage the work assigned to others within the department. Documents all aspects of nutrition care in the medical record. Demonstrates compliance with regulatory agency standards as evidenced by timely completion of clinical nutrition workload as evidenced by chart audits and organizational / regulatory agency surveys.
7. Participates in the training of clinical nutrition intern students by acting as preceptors throughout the year as assigned.

Other information:
Education Requirements:
* Bachelor's degree required from a US regionally accredited university or college and course work accredited or approved by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
* Master's in related Dietitian field for new graduates becoming licensed after 1/1/2024.
* Completion of a Coordinated Program in Dietetics or Dietetic Internship accredited by ACEND (Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics) of no less than 900 hours (1200 hours for graduates of programs beginning 2012)
Licensure/Certification Requirements:
* Registered Dietitian (RD) by The Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR)
* Licensed as a Dietitian/Nutritionist (LDN) by the North Carolina Board of Dietetics and Nutrition.
* Some positions may require appropriate credentialing for billing pruposes (e.g. NPI, Medicare/Medicaid Provider, BCBSNC Provider) to be obtained within one (1) month from date of hire.
Professional Experience Requirements:
* No prior experience required except for specific positions.
* UNCMC Cardiac Rehab: Two(2) years as a clinical dietitian in a cardiac rehabilitation program or outpatient cardiology clinic.
Knowledge/Skills/and Abilities Requirements:
* * Knowledge of the Nutrition Care Process and ability to apply all steps of the process. * Knowledge and application of medical nutrition therapy. * Understands and can implement Motivational Interviewing * Critical thinking to integrate facts, informed opinion, active listening, and observations. * Decision making, problem solving, and collaboration. * Ability to communicate effectively in both written and verbal form to patients, public, hospital and medical staff, and physicians. * Ability to function independently on assigned patient care units. * Ability to counsel and educate others. * General knowledge of nutrient analysis, word processing, and spreadsheet software.

Legal Employer: STATE

Entity: UNC Medical Center

Organization Unit: Outpatient Nutrition Services

Work Type: Full Time

Standard Hours Per Week: 40.00

Salary Range:$26.85 - $38.61 per hour (Hiring Range)

Pay offers are determined by experience and internal equity

Work Assignment Type: Onsite

Work Schedule: Day Job

Location of Job: US:NC:Chapel Hill

Exempt From Overtime: Exempt: Yes

This is a State position employed by UNC Health Care System with UNC Health benefits. If, however, you are presently an employee of another North Carolina agency and currently participate in TSERS or the ORP, you will be eligible to continue participating in those plans at UNC Health.

Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran or political affiliation.

UNC Health makes reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as applicants and employees with disabilities. All interested applicants are invited to apply for career opportunities. Please email applicant.accommodations@unchealth.unc.edu if you need a reasonable accommodation to search and/or to apply for a career opportunity.