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Dietetic Internship: Weeks 21-24

January 19, 2015 by Lindsay 15 Comments

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Hi Friends!

Just popping in with a quick update to fill you in on the long-term care rotation of my internship! As usual, I’m behind on my recaps. In fact, I only have ONE MORE WEEK of my internship left. Which means I’ve already completed 3 weeks of my very last rotation.

So, I thought I’d spend a few minutes filling you guys in on what I did in February. It was a lot of the same stuff day after day.

IMG_1839

{sign on my preceptor’s door}

The place that I did my longterm care rotation was actually a  Transitional Care and Rehab facility. It’s both a long-term care facility, with a dementia unit, and a rehabilitation facility. Long-term care is not my favorite thing, but luckily for me, my preceptor primarily covered the rehab units…which I liked a lot better. There was a Diet Tech that covered most of the LTC patients, and then since my preceptor was an RD, she handled some of the more complicated cases in that involved tube feeds, serious pressure ulcers, etc.

I liked the rehab units because there was such a wide range of patients. We saw older patients recovering from fractures and surgeries, patients with cirrhosis, patients recovering from motor vehicle accidents and much more.

sunrise
{I had a 45 min drive each way so I saw a lot of pretty sunrises. Bonus!}

Here are some of the things I did while I was there:

  • Attended weight and wound team meetings with the RD and the nurse unit managers. Patients that triggered for weight loss/gain and any patients with wounds or pressure ulcers were discussed.
  • Provided diabetes education to newly diagnosed diabetic patients. I taught them how to count carbs, how to read labels, etc.
  • Conducted admissions assessments with patients to determine food preferences. These assessments also cover any recent weight loss/gain, chewing/swallowing problems, food allergies, usual body weight, labs and any other nutritional concerns the patient has.
  • Attended care conferences with patients and families to discuss comments, concerns and questions about their care.
  • Reviewed and assessed weight change and meal intake reports.
  • Used the nutrition care process to write ADIME notes. These notes include an assessment, a nutrition diagnosis that has to be written using certain standardized languages, what your interventions are going to be to correct their nutritional problems and how you will monitor/evaluate changes in their condition.
  • Used the Point Click Care computer system to chart electronically and navigate patient records.
  • Set goals for weight loss, improved labs, wound healing, etc and recommended supplements (Ensure, Healthy shot, fortified shakes) when necessary for extra calories and protein.
  • Referred patients for speech therapy consults for swallowing issues.
  • Recommended diet changes when necessary.
  • Visited patients to discuss weight changes.
  • Calculated tube feeds.
  • Completed assessments (monthly, quarterly and annual)

Although this wasn’t my favorite rotation, I liked my preceptor and it actually went by pretty quickly since I was only there for four weeks. I got to interact with a lot of patients and I got tons of practice charting, writing PES statements and coming up with interventions and goals.

photo3

I also had to select a patient to do a case study on. My patient had alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatic encephelopathy. I’ll be presenting my case study to my class next week.

So there you go! Like I mentioned, I’m currently finishing up my very last rotation. I’m at the Central Ohio Diabetes Association and I’m loving it. Recap to come soon!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

PS. If you want to read more about my previous rotations, here are my recaps:

My Path & Big News

Dietetic Internship Orientation and Week 1

Dietetic Internship Weeks 2 & 3

Dietetic Internship Weeks 4 &5

Dietetic Internship Weeks 6-9

Dietetic Internship Weeks 10-16

A Day in the Life & Nobody’s Perfect

Dietetic Internship Weeks 17-20

 

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About Lindsay

Lindsay Livingston is a Registered Dietitian and new mom from Columbus, Ohio. On her blog, she shares simple, healthy recipes, nutrition tips, workouts and snapshots of her life. Follow her on Twitter @LeanGrnBeanBlog and Instagram @TheLeanGreenBean and be sure to subscribe via RSS or email so you never miss a post!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says

    March 23, 2013 at 10:07 AM

    Congrats on another completion! It sounds really interesting… alcoholic cirrhosis?! Whoa.

    sorry if I missed it, but what’s a PES statement?

    Reply
  2. Amy says

    March 23, 2013 at 10:13 AM

    Congrats! Almost there! I’ve worked most of my healthcare career (RPT) in long term care, and I agree it can be a challenging environment! Are you planning to work with kiddos? Your enthusiasm and fun ideas would definitely help get our next generation on track with nutrition and healthy choices. Yay!!!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      March 28, 2013 at 9:57 AM

      i would love to work with kids! they’re my favorite!

      Reply
  3. Mandie says

    March 23, 2013 at 10:48 AM

    Wow, you are one busy girl. 🙂 How do you keep your busy life from interfering with your home life. I’m going back to school for dietetics and I’m trying to figure out how to have time for school time, husband time, and me time. You are always on the go with a huge smile. Any advice 🙂

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      March 28, 2013 at 9:58 AM

      you gotta set boundaries. only get on the computer during x times, off after 9pm to spend time with family, or whatever works for you. but set “rules” for yourself and stick to them!

      Reply
  4. Ja @Athlete Within Ja says

    March 23, 2013 at 11:02 AM

    Nice to know you’re in the medical field and from OHIO. Me too! 🙂 Yay! But I’m currently studying for US Medical Boards. I plan on applying for Psychiatry. 🙂
    I blog and workout during my free times. 🙂

    Goodluck with your case study! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      March 28, 2013 at 9:55 AM

      awesome! love knowing other ohio bloggers!

      Reply
  5. Tiffany says

    March 23, 2013 at 1:30 PM

    I would actually love to hear more about the treatments for patients with cirrhosis and hepatic encephelopathy.

    Reply
  6. Danica @ It's Progression says

    March 23, 2013 at 2:23 PM

    You’re so close to the end! So exciting!!

    Reply
  7. Amanda @ Diary of a Semi-Health Nut says

    March 23, 2013 at 2:51 PM

    It’s great that you’re doing these recaps! I think this is the first that I’ve read and although I don’t understand all of the terminology (which shows me I have more schooling lol), it’s really cool to see what an internship is like!

    From a future RD, thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      March 28, 2013 at 9:55 AM

      glad you’re enjoying them!

      Reply
  8. Cait's Plate says

    March 24, 2013 at 3:14 PM

    Oh my gosh I’m SOOO jealous of how close to done you are! Congrats, congrats! I’ll be excited to hear what you think of the RD exam…I’ve heard mixed things! Do you know when you’re shooting to take it?

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      March 28, 2013 at 9:53 AM

      thank you! hoping to take it the first week in may. i’ve already taken the DTR exam so i’m hoping it’ll be similar!!

      Reply
  9. Jody - Fit at 55 says

    March 24, 2013 at 3:18 PM

    You are learning so much & so are we!!! 🙂 Lucky for some beautiful sunrises if you are going to have to drive for that long!

    Reply
  10. Amy says

    March 29, 2013 at 8:40 AM

    Ahh Point Click Care! I use PCC on my longtermers everyday. My longterm acute care hospital patients are all still paper charting…so different from the skilled and LTC units. LTC and SNF experience is so great to have!

    Reply

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Lindsay Livingston The Lean Green Bean Healthy Living Tips and Tricks

I'm a Registered Dietitian and mom of three from Columbus, Ohio. I use this blog to share simple, healthy recipes, nutrition tips, and an honest glimpse of motherhood!

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