Dietitians in hospital care
Background
Dietitians are valued members of the health team at every level of the health system – municipal, provincial and federal. Whether it is helping a client cope with diabetes, cancer or heart disease or preparing for or recovering from surgery, or making sure foods served in hospitals are safe and healthy, dietitians bring a unique set of skills and expertise that make the difference
Position
Dietitians support access by all Canadians to the right services by the right professional, at the right time, to address health needs. This means having access to a dietitian to oversee the nutrition care process and the hospital food services
The nutrition care process involves four steps:
- Assessment
- Nutrition diagnosis
- Intervention and
- Monitoring
It is critical that there is standardization of the nutrition care process, the terms and definitions used, as well as record keeping. Dietitians across Canada have worked together to do just that.
Actions
Dietitians of Canada supported bringing dietitian experts together to develop the Canadian Perspective on the Nutrition Care Process.
To better understand malnutrition issues in hospitals and long term care facilities (personal care homes), Dietitians of Canada has led nutritionDay in Canada – an international nutrition surveillance initiative
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