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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

• To undertake nutritional assessment dietary analysis and calculate nutritional requirements of referred patients taking into account medical, social and cultural factors.
• To assist in provision of service to more specialist clinical areas under supervision of specialist dietitian as part of training and CPD.
• To provide nutrition and dietary advice suitable for the patient’s medical, social and cultural factors, which is evidence based.
• To negotiate change with patients to enable them to achieve set dietary targets.
• To accept responsibility for the carrying and efficient answering of any bleep delegated by a team leader
• To manage own time and clinical case – load effectively and efficiently.
• To monitor and review nutritional care plans against outcome measures and adjust care plan to facilitate achievement of goals.
• To assist in developing a range of educational resources which have a clear evidence-base and which are acceptable to users of the service and their carers.
• To ensure safe and timely discharge of patients on home enteral feeding liaising with appropriate internal and external agencies.

Planning and Organisational Duties

• To be responsible for designated area of work as agreed with team leader & prioritise workload in line with Dietetic standards.
• To accurately record all assessments and interventions in medical notes and nursing documentation in line with Trust policy. To communicate in writing with other agencies, G.P.’s, community dietitians about patient care.
• To record and submit clinical and professional activity using manual and electronic means according to departmental standards.
• To contribute to the Clinical Governance agenda by representing the Nutrition and Dietetic service on sub groups, undertaking simple audit projects as part of clinical practice and engaging in CPD and departmental appraisal system.
• To contribute to and comment on the department policies, resources and matters relating to nutrition and dietetics.
• To promote safe standards of care and service.
• Interpret and follow the Trust and professional policy/clinical guidelines.
• To communicate and liaise with other agencies appropriately, e.g. members of the MDT, catering, pharmacy, community dietitians.

Communications and Key Working Relationships

• To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise rehabilitation potential and to ensure understanding of condition. Use communication skills such as persuasion, motivation explanation to encourage patients to undertake their management programme.
• To use communication tools (verbal and non-verbal) to gain informed consent with patients where there will often be barriers to effective communication e.g. loss of hearing, altered perception, expressive and receptive dysphasia, pain, fear etc.
• To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• To communicate complex patient-related information (as well as non-patient information) effectively and work collaboratively with medical, nursing and therapy colleagues to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service

Responsibility for Human Resources

• To attend and contribute to Nutrition and Dietetic Service meetings as required.
• To assist in the clinical supervision and assessment of student dietitians including planning of programme during weeks of responsibility
• To assist in delivering formal and informal training to other health care professionals and staff groups, to include dietetic assistants, pre and post registration training for nurses.
• To participate in clinical supervision.
• To attend Therapy Lead Meetings and be an active member of the in-service training programme.

Responsibility for Health & Safety

• To be aware of Health and Safety aspects of your work and implement any policies, which may be required to improve the safety of your work area, including your prompt recording and reporting of accidents to senior staff, and ensuring that equipment use if safe.
• To advise the team leader with regard to ordering, monitoring and maintaining equipment used in carrying out speech & language therapy duties, and to adhere to departmental policy, including competence to use equipment and to ensure the safe use of equipment by others through, teaching, training and supervision of practice.

Responsibility for Teaching

• To educate patients, relatives and carers in conditions and their effects in order to adapt to an appropriate lifestyle.
• To receive, plan and deliver in-service training for own profession and others.
• To participate in the planning, evaluation and audit of practices, clinical pathways and protocols within your clinical area.
• To participate with other team members in measurement of and evaluation of work and current practice through use of outcome measures and audit.