Dietitians and Nutritionists
Tasks
Core Tasks Include:
- Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
- Consult with physicians and health care personnel to determine nutritional needs and diet restrictions of patient or client.
- Advise patients and their families on nutritional principles, dietary plans, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.
- Counsel individuals and groups on basic rules of good nutrition, healthy eating habits, and nutrition monitoring to improve their quality of life.
- Develop curriculum and prepare manuals, visual aids, course outlines, and other materials used in teaching.
- Coordinate diet counseling services.
- Plan, conduct, and evaluate dietary, nutritional, and epidemiological research.
- Plan and conduct training programs in dietetics, nutrition, and institutional management and administration for medical students, health-care personnel, and the general public.
- Write research reports and other publications to document and communicate research findings.
- Evaluate laboratory tests in preparing nutrition recommendations.
- Incorporate patient cultural, ethnic, or religious preferences and needs in the development of nutrition plans.
- Record and evaluate patient and family health and food history, including symptoms, environmental toxic exposure, allergies, medication factors, and preventive health-care measures.
- Develop recipes and menus to address special nutrition needs, such as low glycemic, low histamine, or gluten- or allergen-free.
Supplemental Tasks Include:
- Monitor food service operations to ensure conformance to nutritional, safety, sanitation and quality standards.
- Coordinate recipe development and standardization and develop new menus for independent food service operations.
- Develop policies for food service or nutritional programs to assist in health promotion and disease control.
- Inspect meals served for conformance to prescribed diets and standards of palatability and appearance.
- Prepare and administer budgets for food, equipment, and supplies.
- Purchase food in accordance with health and safety codes.
- Select, train, and supervise workers who plan, prepare, and serve meals.
- Manage quantity food service departments or clinical and community nutrition services.
- Advise food service managers and organizations on sanitation, safety procedures, menu development, budgeting, and planning to assist with establishment, operation, and evaluation of food service facilities and nutrition programs.
- Organize, develop, analyze, test, and prepare special meals, such as low-fat, low-cholesterol, or chemical-free meals.
- Make recommendations regarding public policy, such as nutrition labeling, food fortification, or nutrition standards for school programs.
- Plan and prepare grant proposals to request program funding.
- Test new food products and equipment.
- Confer with design, building, and equipment personnel to plan for construction and remodeling of food service units.
- Plan, conduct, and evaluate nutrigenomic or nutrigenetic research.
The data sources for the information displayed here include: O*NET™. (Using onet291)
