Kent State Interns

Cluskey, M, Gerald, B., Gregoire, M. Management in dietetics: Are we prepared for the future? J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012; 107(3); S34-S37. Management is no longer associated with just business.  Many food and nutrition professionals have managerial tasks related to their positions, such as human resource management duties, budgetary and supervisory duties.  The traditional definition of management includes activities such as “organizing, planning, leading and monitoring, with emphasis on supervision of work”.  Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, suggested that management skills need to advance to involve setting goals, motivating, training, communicating, and measurement of outcomes. Producing positive outcomes are necessary in healthcare organizations, academic institutions, nonprofits, as well as community service organization and need to be properly managed. Therefore, dietitians working in these organizations must be able to serve not only as dietitia...

Schaeffer, J. (2016). Educating doctors about nutrition. Today’s Dietitian , 18(1), 40.             The Institute of Medicine and the Association of American Medical Colleges recommend that medical students receive 25 hours of nutrition education over a four-year time-frame.   However, an average of 71% of medical schools do not meet the full 25 hours of education.   As a result, physicians are not learning enough about nutrition and its impact on the prevention and management of chronic diseases.             The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, owned and operated by Tulane Medical School is a teaching kitchen that aims to sufficiently educate medical students about nutrition.   It offers various programs, ranging from beginner to CME modules for practicing physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, RDs, and pharmacists.   In addition, ...

Barkley, WC. Ethical practice in foodservice management. J Am Diet Assoc. 2012; (112)5; S41-S42. The pressures of staying within budget while maintaining and meeting the standards of quality are some of the challenges that foodservice managers often face.  Making ethical decisions is not always black and white and may be difficult.  Managers who don’t have a strong ethical base or if critical thinking is not their strong point, may choose to make inappropriate decisions and possibly cut corners.  To make ethical decisions, qualities such as intellectual integrity, fair mindedness, courage, independence, empathy are necessary. The American Dietetic Association (ADA)--Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) Code of Ethics for the Profession of Dietetics was created to provide dietitians with a framework for ethical conduct. The ADA’s name has been changed to Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND).  The principles of the AND can be used to assist foodservice ma...

Berthelsen, RM, Barkley,  WC, Oliver, PM, McLymont, V, Puckett, R.  Academy of nutrition and dietetics: revised 2014 standards of professional performance for registered dietitian nutritionists in management of food and nutrition systems.  J Am Diet Assoc. 201; (114)7; 1104-1112. The challenge between effective utilization of human resources, financial management and equipment and material and time constraints to produce a quality product is a challenge for the food and nutrition systems manager.   To provide high-quality food and services, the Management in Food and Nutrition Systems Dietetic Practice Group, developed the Revised 2014 Standards of Professional Performance (SOPP), as a tool for registered dietitian nutritionists working in the food and nutrition systems management.  The SOPP consist of six domains of professional standards which are: 1) quality in practice; 2) competence and accountability; 3) provision of services; 4) application of...

Howells, A., Sauer, K., Shanklin, C. Evaluating human resource and financial management responsibilities of clinical nutrition managers.  J Am Diet Assoc. 2016;   (116 ) 12; 1883-1891. The clinical nutrition manager (CNM) has many responsibilities and tasks but what exactly are these tasks and responsibilities.  According to a study performed by Howells, Sauer and Shanklin (2016), no current research has defined specific responsibilities and tasks of the clinical nutrition manager.  They report that the vagueness of the CNM’s role limits understanding of the success and educational opportunities for CNMs.  The purpose of the study was to validate responsibilities and determine the educational needs of the CNM. It was determined that most CNMs were registered dietitians with Master degrees.  Dietitians that possess strong management skills have a greater chance of advancing in their careers and receiving higher wages.  The management of financial...

A majority of people own a smart phone and many people download apps on their phones to help them with things in their daily lives. In the Nutrition and Dietetics field it would be beneficial to reach people through an app and give support of nutrition education. Remote nutrition counseling is a way for RDNs to counsel patients outside of the traditional methods. RDNs can counsel people via video chats, emails, texting, and mobile apps. An app called MobileRD allows dietitians to communicate with clients. The users can create their own profiles and enter their daily nutritional information, physical activity, and any concerns they have. Every night a midnight the app forwards the information to the RDN for them to evaluate and respond to the clients via a secure email. This is just one example of many apps that RDNs can use to communicate with patients. However, with the use of this newer technology comes the risk of violating HIPPA by having information lost or stolen. It is also po...

As the role of the Registered Dietitian (RD) becomes more widespread throughout the workforce, many RD's are finding themselves involved with the food industry. This career path often involves positions dealing with marketing, recipe development, education, etc. Although these are not the tradition job routes of the RD, they can have rewarding benefits such as higher pay, and new opportunities. The RD can bring their scientific background to the food industry and add their professionalism to the products/services in a way that other healthcare professionals cannot. The RD in this role can also be directly involved with promoting the health benefits of the product. Many RD's become involved in the field of nutrition because of their passion to help promote wellness to society. When taking a job in the food industry, the RD can use their knowledge and ability to affect public health. More and more companies are hiring on RD's to benefit their companies. Many times, RD's i...

Phillips, W. (2015). Clinical nutrition staffing benchmarks for acute care hospitals. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , 115(7), 1054-1056.             The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has established a staffing ratio of RDNs to patients in a clinical setting.   For a medical/surgical acute care floor the ratio is one dietitian for every 65 to 75 patients; for an intensive care unit the ratio is 1:30 to 1:60. Because there has not been a universally accepted number of RDNs based on average daily census, it is challenging for nutrition managers to determine whether their staff is meeting productivity goals.   It’s important to analyze the workload assigned to dietitians in the clinical setting in order to establish benchmarks.               Baseline data was collected using a standardized productivity monitoring tool from 420 hospitals...