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The Nutrition Support Team Dietitian and the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
The Nutrition Support Team Dietitian needs to be a senior figure within the Department of Dietetics. He/she provides a vital operational and organisational link between the Team and the Department.
The Department:
- Maintains itself as the principal source of evidence-based information on food and nutrition and is an important contributor on nutritional assessment and support
- Supervises and supports dietitians and dietetic assistants
- Provides nutritional advice and expertise in all units of the hospital, including Catering.
- Liaises closely with Nutrition Steering Committee and the Nutrition Support Team(s)
- Participates in education and training
- Assesses diet and nutrition in more detail than a basic screen.
- Provides dietetic advice tailored to individual patient’s needs
- Tailors food and supplements to special dietary/nutritional needs
- Supervises, analyses and interprets dietary records and recalls.
- Prescribes or helps prescribe enteral feeds and supplements, liaising with doctors, nurses and the nutrition support team
- Is “part of the ward” – understands wards and patient problems in order to help solve them
- Liaises with clinical staff including ward nurses, SALT, doctors, occupational therapists and social workers etc
- Advises about enteral feeding techniques
- Advises about parenteral nutrition in liaison with Nutrition Support Team
- Provides community liaison and care (extended roles –links with NNS)
- Provides out patient nutritional care and follow up