Clinical Dietitian I - Ambulatory

Kids Are Our Everything.

Department

Pay Range

About the Role:

Responsible for providing clinical nutrition services, including nutrition assessment, modified diet formulation, self-management training and nutrition intervention to patients. Ensures patient satisfaction, quality care, regulatory agency compliance, and good public relations are achieved through the safe and efficient use of resources.

Job must provide nutrition services in identified specialty area for a minimum of 70% of work load/responsibilities. Specialty areas include NICU, bariatric, renal, cardiac, diabetes, nutrition support, transplant, oncology, pediatrics and out-patient services. Any other areas must be approved by the Manager and Director.

This is a Clinical Dietitian I (1) position. To qualify for this level, the applicant must be credentialed and licensed as a Registered Dietitian (RD) within 90 days of employment.

What You'll Bring:

Minimum Education
Bachelor's Degree Public Health Nutrition, Nutrition Science, Nutrition, Dietetics, or nutrition related field (Required) Or
Master's Degree Master's Degree in nutrition or clinical specialty for new graduates starting after 2024 (Required)

Minimum Work Experience
1 year Experience and/or completed internship, preferably in the area of maternal and child health. (Required)

Required Skills/Knowledge
Language Skills: Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of medical staff, healthcare professionals, managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
Mathematical Skills: Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as proportions, percentages, and volume. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra.
Computer Skills: Possesses necessary skills to effectively operate the hospital’s electronic medical record system. Ability to operate a standard computer, including basic use of MS applications such as Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
Reasoning Ability: Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret a variety of technical instructions and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Required Licenses and Certifications
Registered Dietitian: Licensed in the District of Columbia. 90 Days (Required) Credentialed as a Registered Dietitian through the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) 90 Days (Required)

Functional Accountabilities

• Assesses the nutritional status of neonates/ infants, pediatric, adolescent, adult and/or geriatric patient through documentation in the medical record. Uses parameters such as anthropometric measurements, nutrition-focused physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory values.

• Develops, revises and individualizes nutrition care plan based on information from the patient, medical record, family and health care team members.

• Incorporates current evidence-based research into practice.

• Utilizes physician/referring practitioner-driven protocols or other facility-specific processes to implement, initiate or modify order for diet or nutrition-related actions (e.g. nutrition supplements, dietary supplements, diet modifications, diet texture modifications for dentition or individual preferences, nutrition-related laboratory tests and medications, and nutrition education and counseling) consistent with specialized training where required, competence and approved clinical privileges and organization policy.

• Utilizes physician/referring practitioner-driven protocols or other facility-specific processes to manage nutrition support therapies (e.g., enteral and parenteral formula selection and rate adjustments based on energy needs or laboratory results, addition of designated medications and vitamin/mineral supplements to parenteral nutrition solutions or supplemental water for enteral nutrition, and placement of feeding tubes) consistent with specialized training where required, competence and approved clinical privileges and organization policy.

• Executes programs/services in an organized, collaborative, and customer-centered manner. Participates in process for ordering privileges required for expanded roles and enhanced activities consistent with federal and state practice acts.

• Adheres to facility confidentiality, HIPAA regulations, and patient rights policies.

• Complies with regulatory standards, including federal, state and accrediting agencies.

• Completes all required documentation, reports and logs in a timely, professional and thorough manner.

• Communicates effectively with all team members, patients and families through conferences, individual consultation and committee participation. This includes in-person, telephone, written, and electronic communication.

• Orients, mentors and trains staff and interns, as applicable.

• Advises department on patient care and food service issues.

• Provides training to patient services staff on special needs with patients diet prescriptions.

• Assists with modified menu planning based on current diet manual in collaboration with the food service management team.

• Follows facility and department infection control policies and procedures.

• Participates in facility-wide and department Quality Assurance/Performance Improvement (QAPI) Program and on QAPI teams to improve processes and patient care.

• Participates in and attends departmental meetings, staff development, patient care rounds and professional programs, as appropriate.

• Visits patients on assigned nursing unit(s) and contributes to every patient being visited by a member of the management or professional team at least once during their hospital stay.

• Assists and contributes to patient satisfaction goals by providing quality service.

• Projects and practices consistent ownership attributes, which provide a high level of customer service at all points of contact.

• Reads and complies with all policies and procedures of CNH.

• Follows all security procedures for facility and department.

• Responds to utility failures per department policy.

• Follows facility, department, Morrison Healthcare/TouchPoint, and Compass safety policies and procedures to include incident reporting.

• Wears name tag identification and is aware of role in minimizing security incidents.

• Follows the facility’s protocols for Hazardous Materials and Waste Program.

• Adheres to Emergency Preparedness Program. Participates in disaster drills as appropriate.

• Adheres to Life Safety Program and participates in fire drills as appropriate.

• Performs other tasks that may be assigned.

• Telehealth:* Complies with all telehealth federal, state and local regulations (e.g. Health Department, HIPPA/ Privacy Act, Joint Commission, DNV-GL, quality assurance, safety operations and personnel) by keeping abreast of the most recent policies and standards of practice.* Provides telehealth from home (distant location): Maintains an office which safeguards private patient information, medical team/operations conversations and PHI access (e.g., complies with Remote Work Agreements per Aramark and client requirements)* Ability to work independently and manage time efficiently.* Demonstrates ability to receive constructive feedback and then incorporate into telehealth communications to improve performance.* Demonstrates ability to quickly establish rapport and therapeutic alliances via approved telehealth modality (e.g., phone, video, or digital) with a diverse population of patients, care givers and medical team* Provide medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education to patients via approved telehealth modality e.g., phone, video, or digital). * Submits data to measure key performance indicators (KPIs) (e.g., Clinical Productivity, chart audits, revenue from outpatient services, etc.)* Present for online webinars and trainings if needed.

Benefits That Support You:

• Comprehensive health coverage, including medical, prescription, infertility, and transgender health services.
• Generous paid time off, including vacation accrual from day one, sick leave, holidays, and a personal day.
• Financial wellness support, including a 401(k) plan and healthcare and dependent care spending accounts.
• Employer-paid life, AD&D, and long-term disability coverage, with optional supplemental plans.
• Additional perks, including tuition assistance, fitness resources, employee assistance, commuter benefits, and more.

Why Join Us:

• Nationally Recognized Excellence – Consistently ranked among the Top 10 Children’s Hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
• Leading Pediatric Care – One of the largest and most comprehensive children’s hospitals in the country, offering nationally ranked specialties and cutting-edge treatments.
• Innovation & Research – A premier academic medical center with a strong commitment to pediatric research, education, and advancing the future of child health.
• Mission-Driven Culture – Dedicated to providing family-centered care while fostering a collaborative, supportive environment for clinical teams.

The disclosed salary range includes the minimum and maximum rates within which Children’s National believes an individual’s base pay rate will fall for this position. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the maximum of the pay range. The exact pay rate for this position will be based on a variety of factors in alignment with the Children’s National compensation philosophy. These factors are legitimate and non-discriminatory including, but not limited to, the current market conditions; organizational needs; the individual’s combination of prior work experience, level of education, knowledge, skills, and other qualifications. Children’s National is committed to providing a fair and competitive total rewards package to each of our employees. This base salary range does not include our comprehensive benefits package or any additional compensation for which this position may be eligible.

Childrens National Hospital is an equal opportunity employer that evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, identity, or other characteristics protected by law. The “Know Your Rights” poster is available here: and the pay transparency policy is available here: Know Your RightsPay Transparency Nondiscrimination Poster.

Please note that it is the policy of Children's National Hospital to ensure a “drug-free” work environment: a workplace free from the illegal use, possession or distribution of controlled substances (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act), or the misuse of legal substances, by all staff (management, employees and contractors). Though recreational and medical marijuana are now legal in the District of Columbia, Children's National and its affiliates maintain the right, in accordance with our policy, to enforce a drug-free workplace, including prohibiting recreational or prescribed marijuana.