State of Maryland

A Registered Dietitian I functions as a staff dietitian at the intermediate levels of work providing clinical nutritional care services generally to patients and clients of a health care facility of the Maryland Department of Health.  Employees in this classification are generally used in hospitals, health care clinics, or health care residential institutions.  Employees in this classification perform work that requires the application of nutrition principles in patient/client nutritional care and is performed in accordance with the individual treatment plans developed by health care professionals and under the standards and policies of the Dietetic program of the health care facility.  Employees in this classification do not supervise other Registered Dietitians but may supervise personnel engaged in food production and meal service.

Employees in this classification receive moderate supervision from a higher-level Registered Dietitian or the health care facility director.  Employees may be assigned to shifts to include weekends and holidays.  Employees may be subject to call-in and overtime based on staffing needs.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the class specification.

The Registered Dietitian I and the Registered Dietitian II are differentiated on the basis of degree of supervisory control over these employees.  The Registered Dietitian I performs duties under close supervision at times and under general supervision at other times depending on the complexity of the specific duty being performed and the Registered Dietitian II performs the full range of duties and responsibilities under general supervision.

Plans and executes clinical nutritional care services, such as nutritional screening, nutritional history and assessment, and nutritional education and counseling for assigned patients/clients of a state health care facility;

Interprets Physicians' prescriptions for modified diets and monitors the preparation and service of such diets;

Ensures that nourishments and nutritional supplements are provided to patients/clients consistent with Physicians' prescriptions;

Consults with medical and other professionals concerning individual food habits and needs of assigned patients/clients;

Plans menus for modified diets based on indicated physiological and psychological needs of patients/clients;

Monitors meals served for conformance to diet prescriptions and acceptance by patients/clients;

Participates in medical staff conferences, rounds, and consultations;

Documents pertinent nutritional information on patient/client medical records;

Counsels patients/clients and others on the requirements and importance of prescribed modified diets and how to plan and prepare food;

Provides assistance with the evaluation of dietetic program operations using quality assurance criteria to assure compliance to the dietetic program standards for food purchasing, preparation, service, preservation, sanitation, and safety;

Conducts educational and in service training sessions on nutritional standards in food service and dietetic practice for professional, paraprofessional, and other support staff assigned to a dietetic department or involved in patient/client care;

May supervise the work of personnel engaged in food production and meal service in a dietetic department;

May monitor cost control procedures in food purchasing, production, and service operations in a dietetic department;

May assist in the interviewing, selection, orientation and evaluation of dietetic department employees;

Maintains records and prepares reports;

Performs other related duties.

Class Descriptions are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies.  Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Class Descriptions provide information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work, General Requirements and Acknowledgements.  The Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency.

This is a Professional Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Professional Service positions.  Some positions in Professional Service classifications may be designated as Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit, as indicated by the designation of S (Supervisor), M (Manager), T (Agency Head), U (Board or Commission Member), W (Student), X (Used by Agency or Excluded by Executive Order), or Z (Confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

This classification is one level in a Non-Competitive Promotion (NCP) series.  NCP promotions are promotions by which employees may advance in grade and class level from trainee to full performance level in a classification series.  In order to be non-competitively promoted to the next level in a NCP series, an    employee must: 1) perform the main purpose of the class, as defined by the Nature of Work section of the class specification; 2) receive the type of  supervision defined in the class specification and 3) meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.