Navajo Preference Employment Act : In accordance with Navajo Nation and federal law, TCRHCC has implemented an Affirmative Action Plan pursuant to the Navajo Preference in Employment Act. Pursuant to this Plan and corresponding TCRHCC Policy, applicants who meet the necessary qualifications for this position and (1) are enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, or San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe will be given preference in hiring and employment for this position, (2) are legally married to enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, or San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and meet residency requirements will be given secondary preference, and (3) are enrolled members of other federally-recognized American Indian Tribes will be given tertiary preference. Overview:

This position is responsible for providing inpatient and outpatient medical nutrition therapy appropriate to medical diagnoses; providing diabetes self-management education; and using public health approaches to prevent and treat obesity, diabetes, and complications of diabetes. Incumbent also participates in weekend/holiday rotating on-call schedule to provide medical nutrition therapy for inpatients, with and without diabetes.

Qualifications:

Education:

Certification:

• Must be a current Registered Dietitian in good standing with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR)
• Must obtain a New Mexico RD License within one (1) month of hire
• Must have a Basic Life Support certification (BLS) from the American Heart Association (AHA)
• Must have a CPR certification

Experience:

Must have six (6) months of experience in clinical, public health, and/or community nutrition. Documented Internship experience will qualify as experience.

Other Skills and Abilities:

A record of satisfactory performance in all prior and current employment as evidenced by positive employment references from previous and current employers. All employment references must address and indicate success in each one of the following areas:

• Positive working relationships with others; cooperating effectively in teams for the benefit of patient care
• Possession of high ethical standards and no history of complaints
• Reliable and dependable; reports to work as scheduled without excessive absences
• Effective verbal and written communication skills; exceptional communication and interpersonal skills are essential
• Ability to prioritize duties and work independently; must be self-motivated
• Experience with Microsoft Office and other computer applications
• Completion of and above-satisfactory scores on all job interviews, demonstrating to the satisfaction of the interviewees and TCRHCC that the applicant can perform the essential functions of the job
• Successful completion of and positive results from all background and reference checks, including positive employment references from authorized representatives of past and current employers demonstrating to the satisfaction of TCRHCC a record of satisfactory performance and that the applicant can perform the essential functions of the job
• Successful completion of fingerprint clearance requirements, physical examinations, and other screenings indicating that the applicant is qualified to be employed by TCRHCC and demonstrating to the satisfaction of TCRHCC that the applicant can perform the essential functions of the job
• Submission of all required employment-related documents, applications, resumes, references, and other required information free of false, misleading or incomplete information, as determined by TCRHCC.

MENTAL & PHYSICAL EFFORT

The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

PHYSICAL

Must be able to sit at a desk for long periods of time, frequently stand and walk, and occasionally bend, kneel, crouch, twist, maintain balance, and reach to perform essential job duties. Must write legibly and use a computer terminal. Position requires the ability to lift, push, and pull up to 24lbs occasionally. Sensory requirements include prolonged ability to hear normal speech, hear overhead pages, and telephone use; as well as frequent ability of far and near vision, and seeing fine details, and lastly occasional ability of color vision and depth perception. Must be able to hear and talk over the telephone and in person with others. The use of both hand manipulation in prolonged use of keyboards and occasional simple/firm grasping and fine manipulation is required.

MENTAL

Must be able to prioritize and use good judgment. Must be able to coordinate a variety of issues while being frequently interrupted. Must be able to assess data such as lab values and weights. Mental and emotional requirements for this position include prolonged ability to work alone, frequent ability to concentrate, handle high degree of flexibility, demonstrate high degree of patience, and occasionally cope with high level of stress, make decisions under high pressure, cope with anger/fear/hostility of others in a calm way, manage altercations, handle multiple priorities in stressful situation, adapt to shift work, and work in areas that are close and crowded. Must occasionally accept a flexible schedule to meet unit needs.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Responsibilities:

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provides inpatient and outpatient medical nutrition therapy and diabetes self-management education.
• Performs individual patient needs assessment to evaluate intervention priorities. Assesses patient needs, medical condition, lab values, nutrition and weight status, self-management abilities, psychosocial concerns, learning factors, mental and emotional health status, access to health care resources, and glycemic control. Provides appropriate level and frequency of care for patients and their families as identified in the individual assessment.
• In collaboration with the patient, family, and health care team, identifies realistic and appropriate interventions and goals based on needs assessment. Supports the patient and health care team in completing the intervention and meeting goals.
• Provides diabetes self-management education in both individual and group settings utilizing the IHS “Balancing Your Life with Diabetes” and Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialist curricula.
• Tracks and reports productivity through patient contacts and outcomes on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
• Understands and applies the TCRHCC Diabetes Care guidelines.
• Applies theoretical approaches such as motivational interviewing, stages of change theory, and empowerment theory to facilitate behavior change. Effectively communicates with patients and families in a culturally sensitive manner.
• Collaborates with medical, nursing, and other staff throughout TCRHCC to provide coordinated, team-based, high-quality diabetes and nutrition care in all settings.
• Serves as a public health nutritionist and nutrition educator by providing care to individuals, families, and groups in institutional settings, homes, and community venues directed towards health promotion, disease prevention and disease treatment.
• Provides consultant services to the TCRHCC Dietary Department as needed, such as tray line monitoring, menu updates, and in-service training.
• Attends and participates in Diabetes Clinical Services team meetings, HLC staff meetings, and other committee efforts as appropriate.
• Serves as a clinical expert and resource on diabetes and nutrition to TCRHCC. Initiates and develops in-service training to staff to keep staff updated on issues pertaining to diabetes and nutrition.
• Provides inpatient medical nutrition therapy to patients with and without diabetes on a rotating weekend/holiday on-call schedule.
• Prepares patient education materials as needed, seeking approval for use of new or updated materials through the Patient Education Materials Committee.
• Maintains confidentiality regarding administrative and patient related care.
• Maintains current licensure, job-related competencies, and knowledge of evidence-based guidelines through active participation in continuing education, independent study, seminars, in-services, and dialogue with colleagues.
• Develops and assists with Performance Improvement initiatives.
• Operates, monitors, and maintains patient care equipment.
• Employs the American Association of Diabetes Educators AADE7 Self-Care Behaviors framework.
• Ensure proper PPE is worn at all times while on duty including but not limited to, face mask, gloves, gown, isolation gown, NIOSH-approved N95 filtering facepiece respirator or higher, if available), and eye or face shield.
• Complete all donning and doffing tasks in a safe acceptable method and discard of used PPE accordingly. (see CDC website for most current updates)
• Complete task training for all routine cleaning and decontamination processes for all surfaces contaminated by a communicable disease to ensure a high level of patient, visitor, employee, and external customer satisfaction.
• Performs other duties as assigned.