Working in Long-term Care

Meet Courtney! Courtney has been working as an RD at Compass Health for four years, and has been working at the San Luis Post-Acute Center for the past two and a half years. She is a wonderful preceptor who is open to answering questions and really takes the time to get to know her intern.

Her favorite part about working in long-term care is having the opportunity to connect with the residents and be able to talk about their different foods with them.

She says that food is something that everyone enjoys, and seems to brighten the resident’s days. The team at this location is open to new ideas and works together as a family to find a solution to any problem that may arise. Courtney particularly likes being able to work collaboratively with her team here. In addition to working as a dietitian, she enjoys being ingrained in the dietary process and the kitchen where she helps with foodservice management tasks. She is able to assist in developing new menu recipes and has control over the residents' diets. Occasionally, as part of the food safety component, Courtney monitors the tray lines and completes food safety audits.

As a long-term care dietitian, Courtney completes a variety of tasks on a day to day basis. Some of the tasks she does every day are assessing new residents, collecting food preferences, and following up with residents that have nutritional concerns. She also works with the CNA’s at the facility to get daily, weekly and monthly weights from the residents; weight monitoring is a highly emphasized in long-term care in order to make sure dietitians are making the most appropriate interventions on a weekly basis.

Courtney provided the following advice for new dietitians:

1) Remember WHY you do what you do

2) ALWAYS think about the patient.

She also mentioned the importance of having strong documentation, especially if you are working in long-term care. Lastly, she said to "have fun while working!”

Below is a picture of Shannon Kelly (our intern) and Courtney during Easter time at SLO Post Acute Center.