A Day in the life of a Clinical Dietitian
A Day in the Life of a Clinical Dietitian
When I first started exploring the career possibilities of a registered dietitian, I had no idea that a huge career path was working as a clinical dietitian. Since this was a career I was extremely interested in learning more about, I tried my hardest to find shadowing and internship opportunities (turns out, it's really hard). I ended up not getting any experience with clinical nutrition until my dietetic internship. I hope that this breakdown of my day in the life as a clinical dietitian allows you to learn more about this career path and what the job entails.
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7:30-8 am: I wake up, throw on my scrubs (not all hospitals allow dietitians to wear them but due to COVID they were a better option), and get ready to leave for the day.
8:00-9:00 am: I head to the subway and commute to work - The commute takes me ~45 minutes.
9:00-9:15 am: I clock in, say hello to the kitchen staff, and grab some complimentary breakfast and coffee
9:15-10 am: I head up to the dietitian's office which I share with 3 other dietitians, and I eat breakfast while I check my emails. Once that’s done I log into the EHR (Electronic Health Record - we use EPIC) and begin screening the patients for the day. Screening entails doing a quick look at the patient’s past medical history, their principal problem, as well as looking at nursing screens, labs, medications, and skin. If a patient has a pressure injury, a low BMI, is intubated, or has a high-risk disease we screen them high. A high-screened patient gets priority when assigning whom we will see for the day.
10:00-10:15 am: After screening my patients for the day I print out the list of patients on the floors I’m covering and highlight who is due for the day. The screening process allows us to see who is the highest priority, as well as using their admission date to assess when to see them. I also look to see if we have any consults. A consult comes from a physician who has an urgent need for a dietitian to see their patient in 24-48 hours. Using my clinical judgment, I pick around 11-15 patients I plan to see for the day, including any consults.
10:15-11:15 am: Once I’ve figured out who I plan to see for the day, I begin preparing. The preparation process varies for all dietitians. For me, I like to look through the patient's chart, write down any medical conditions the patient has, their past medical history, the diet they are on, and any nutrition “red flags” I found in their chart. If a patient is on a tube feed I write down the goal formula and rate they’re receiving. This process can take anywhere from 5-15 minutes per patient.
11:15-12:30 pm: It's time to see my floor patients! I bring some nutrition education handouts with me to give to a patient with an indication for it (these can include diabetes, hypertension, cancer, renal disorder) While seeing patients I ask how their appetite and oral intake has been if they have any nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation if they have food allergies, any recent weight changes, as well as obtaining any food preferences they may have. When it’s indicated, I’ll ask patients about the diet they follow at home, what they typically eat, and if they’ve received diet education in the past. If the patient shows interest, I provide nutrition education and a handout for them. This can take anywhere from 5-20 minutes with each patient.
12:30-1:30 pm: My fellow dietitians and I then head to the cafeteria for lunch. Due to COVID, we eat lunch in our office but normally we eat lunch with the long-term care dietitians or other members of the nutrition department.
1:30-2:15 pm: Once we’ve eaten lunch, it's time to head to Interdisciplinary rounds (IDT rounds.) IDT rounds incorporate different medical professionals, including the physician, social worker, speech-language pathologist, caseworker, and dietitian. We all come together to discuss the care for our patients, and to learn more from each other and the patients. This is a really important time to learn more about the patient, address any nutritional concerns, and answer any questions the team may have. I always prepare a few notes about each patient being covered during IDT rounds.
2:15-5 pm: The rest of the day is pretty much dedicated to writing notes on the patients I saw. Depending on if it’s an initial assessment or a follow-up assessment, the note may take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. We follow an ADIME template (assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring & evaluation) While writing notes, I reference the patient's chart, what was discussed during rounds and what I discussed with the patient. I look at the patient’s medications, labs, weight history, diet type, and more. Sometimes in the middle of writing a note, I call the medical team to get more information or have a conversation about my recommendation. After writing my notes, I “push” the patients as either low, moderate, or high risk (which will determine the amount of time between the next assessment)
5:00 pm: After finishing up my notes and “pushing” patients I’m done for the day!
Each day is different, but this is a rough idea of my day-to-day responsibilities. However, many days I attend meetings, watch nutrition-related webinars, etc. I hope this helps you understand more of what a clinical dietitian does and if it's a career path you’d be interested in! This is only one of many careers a dietitian can take, but I truly love it
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