What Do Dietitians and Nutritionists Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Dietitians and Nutritionists plan and conduct food service or nutritional programs to assist in the promotion of health and control of disease. May supervise activities of a department providing quantity food services, counsel individuals, or conduct nutritional research. They also monitor food service operations to ensure conformance to nutritional, safety, sanitation and quality standards.

Other tasks include:

• Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
• 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.
• Consult with physicians and health care personnel to determine nutritional needs and diet restrictions of patient or client.
• Plan, conduct, and evaluate dietary, nutritional, and epidemiological research.
• Write research reports and other publications to document and communicate research findings.

We asked Dietitians and Nutritionists how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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74% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 78% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Dietitians and Nutritionists monitor food service operations to ensure conformance to nutritional, safety, sanitation and quality standards. They inspect meals served for conformance to prescribed diets and standards of palatability and appearance.

A typical day for a Dietitian and Nutritionist will also include:

• Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
• Manage quantity food service departments or clinical and community nutrition services.
• Consult with physicians and health care personnel to determine nutritional needs and diet restrictions of patient or client.
• Coordinate diet counseling services.
• Advise patients and their families on nutritional principles, dietary plans, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.

We asked some Dietitians and Nutritionists a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	91% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	61% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	91% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	52% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	9% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	59% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Dietitians and Nutritionists also purchase food in accordance with health and safety codes. They may also plan and conduct training programs in dietetics, nutrition, and institutional management and administration for medical students, health-care personnel, and the general public.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Dietitians and Nutritionists 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. They might also Develop curriculum and prepare manuals, visual aids, course outlines, and other materials used in teaching.

In addition, they Coordinate recipe development and standardization and develop new menus for independent food service operations.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Write research reports and other publications to document and communicate research findings.

To some Dietitians and Nutritionists, it is also their responsibility to Organize, develop, analyze, test, and prepare special meals, such as low-fat, low-cholesterol, or chemical-free meals.

Working life

Standard 40 hour work week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Dietitian and Nutritionist, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/healthcare/dietitians-and-nutritionists.htm

http://www.eatright.org/

http://www.eatrightacend.org/ACEND/

https://www.cdrnet.org/