Seventeen Weeks of Knowledge

Taking the patient's weights at DaVita!

Seventeen weeks already… It is astounding to me that seventeen weeks of my internship have already flown by. I guess it’s true what they say about time flying by when you are having too much fun! Not only have these past few weeks/months been filled with fun, but they have also been filled with lots of new acquired knowledge. Knowledge not only about the science of nutrition but also as a professional in the field of dietetics. Thus, I cannot wait to share with you some of the newfound understanding that I have acquired in the past few months :)

In my experience, I spent sixteen of the past seventeen weeks in clinical rotations, which I absolutely loved! I spent twelve weeks at Marian Regional Medical Center, two weeks at DaVita, and two weeks at the Arroyo Grande Long Term Care Center! After spending almost all my internship experience in clinical, one of the lessons that I have learned is that sometimes it is more than just nutrition. This was a lesson that I learned very early on in my internship.

What do I mean when I say that it is more than just nutrition?

Well, what I mean is that sometimes as dietetic professionals one of the best things we can do for our patients is to listen. I learned this when I called one of my patients to see how I could better help them meet their nutritional needs. Shortly after the conversation started, I could tell that the patient was distraught. I remained on the phone as the patient proceeded to tell me what was causing the distress. Turns out that it was fear. As the phone call proceeded to its end, I made sure to reassure the patient that they were not alone and that we would do everything to ensure that they were able to be discharged home safely. The patient felt better by the end!

In the twenty-minute conversation I only approached the topic of nutrition in the first thirty seconds with no further mention throughout the conversation. I just listened!

Holding Penelope from Arroyo Grande Care Center during our daily meeting!

That is when I learned that as dietetic professionals it is not only important to help our patients meet their nutritional needs, but it is equally important to empathize with our patients. They are already going through very stressful situations that sometimes the thing that they need the most is someone to listen to them. After going through similar experiences throughout my rotations, I realized that even though I was not necessarily successful talking about nutrition with some of my patients, I had made all the difference that I needed to make for my patient at that specific moment in their life by just being there for them.

Therefore, my number one tip when it comes to counseling is to ensure that you are listening to what your patients need when you are present. Sometimes the patient will tell you what they need or sometimes you will be able to tell based on their body language. That will help you determine whether approaching nutritional topics is appropriate at the time of visit or if coming to talk about nutrition would be more appropriate later in the day or during the follow-up visit.

In addition to nutrition counseling another important aspect of clinical nutrition is note charting! When I first started my clinical rotations, I started with the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and I remember really struggling to sort through all the information that was available to me in the Electronic Health Record (EHR). In the middle of my struggle, two of the best tips that I was given and have continued to receive from all my amazing preceptors have been:

· Focus on what is nutritionally relevant!

· Remember, what will your intervention be?

When it came to charting these tips not only helped me to not feel so overwhelmed, but it also taught me how to be concise with my notes as the weeks progressed!

When you find yourself thinking about whether you should include something (ex: a medication) just remember to think is this nutritionally relevant?

When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with so much information stop, take a deep breath, and think why am I seeing my patient and what intervention can I implement to better help them?

Trying delicious pastries from the Arroyo Grande Care Center Chef, who specialized in pastries!

I have now left the field of clinical nutrition and have embarked on my foodservice journey! Even though I have only been in my foodservice rotation for a few days I have already learned so much! For example, I learned how to do a chicken wrap! The first wrap that I made was falling apart, but by my fifth wrap I was doing a lot better, yay!

When I started my foodservice rotation one of my goals was to make sure that I made an effort to learn the roles of the different staff. This was very important to me because a big part of my background is in foodservice, thus, I know first-hand how much work goes into the production of food! Therefore, I think that as dietetic professionals it is extremely important that we not only understand the different roles of the profession of dietetics, but that we also learn the different roles. Thus, my final tip as a dietetic professional is to:

· Ensure that you not only understand but also learn the different roles in the field of dietetics!

From my personal experience I was really struggling to remember the different diet textures, however, after shadowing and then engaging in the food production process I no longer struggle as much with the diet textures! Also, it is best to keep an open mind because you never know… you might find a different passion in the field of dietetics as you continue learning the different roles within the field!

As a dietetics professional I am continuously learning something new every single day, which is amazing! Therefore, to all my future interns remember to always stay curious and to stay open to all the new opportunities you will encounter! It was a pleasure sharing just a few of the lessons and tips that I have learned throughout the internship as a dietetics professional with all of you :)