Nutrition Support Practitioner

Job summary

To undertake nutritional screening with patients in the Accident and Emergency Department. To undertake anthropometric measurements using specialist equipment such as weighing scales, callipers and hand grip (e.g. weight, height, body mass index, mid upper arm circumference, ulna length, triceps skinfold and hand grip strength) for dietetic nutritional assessment purposes or review patient records and identify key information from records (e.g. weight). Calculate and monitor oral food intake e.g. from food record charts and discussing nutritional intake with patients and carers directly and help to identify barriers preventing individuals from meeting the nutritional care plan goals. To have a knowledge of normal values, and understand the need to escalate any concerns to nursing or medical staff. Documenting food and fluid intakes including estimated energy/calorie and protein intake as part of nutritional assessment reviews. To input into the appropriate IT systems to inform on patient care. Providing basic dietary advice e.g. food first for nutritional support. To be able to provide support to patients who attend the ED with enteral feeding tubes in situ. To ensure that any patient who attends the ED is appropriately assessed for hydration To support ED staff in ensuring that adequate hydration is provided for all patients

Main duties of the job

To be able to identify concerns relating to mouth care, and recognise the need to escalate concerns to the Mouthcare Lead or the Nutrition Nursing team Ordering individual inpatient therapeutic diet meals from Catering Patient Services that cannot be provided by standard or support menus after nutritional assessment e.g. allergy meals. To ensure that any patients who require them have access to oral nutritional supplements To be able to ensure that any patient who requires it has access to an enteral feeding pump To have completed the training for enteral feeding pumps to be able to offer support to patients and staff should this be required in the ED Planning and delivering health care professional sessions e.g. nutrition and diet to health care assistants or housekeepers. To participate in service improvement projects e.g. clinical audit and service evaluation projects. To complete predictive risk assessments for dysphagia (swallowing problems) with patients who attend the department. To carry out swallow screenings to rule out or identify swallowing problems and refer on to appropriate professionals for further assessment. Assist patients with eating and drinking, promoting independence where possible. Maintain effective communication with multidisciplinary team members. Participate in dietetic service meetings, MDT meetings, ward rounds, board rounds.

About us

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.