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Hey there! Hope you’re having a great day! I have been looking forward to putting together this post about my daily routine as a clinical dietitian for a while now.
You may remember that I used to be a school RD and switched to working in a hospital this summer. It took me a while to get into a good routine because my schedule has completely changed and my commute is longer. I think I’ve finally got things down now, so here’s what an average day looks like.
Getting the Day Started…
5:00am- my alarm goes off. Per usual, I hit the snooze button once… or twice… (but really, who’s counting?) and browse around on my phone for a minute. Then I finally decide to roll out of bed.
I wash my face, brush my teeth (make-up is minimal these days) and put on my scrubs. Wearing scrubs to work is pretty much the most amazing thing ever. I never have to think about what to wear and it takes me about 1 minute to get dressed in the morning.
Every morning, Lily follows me around and hangs out with me while I get ready.
She usually keeps to herself during the day/evening so I kind of like our little morning time. FYI- it’s never too early for a belly rub.
I sat my breakfast out on the counter last night, which is a pear and 1 oz of almonds. This is a typical breakfast for me these days because nuts and fruit are easy to eat in the car. I try to pick a fruit that has fiber (apple, pear, etc) to help hold me over until lunch.
5:48- I’m out the door. Today is rainy and cold- blah. I have a 1-hr commute to work and once a week I treat myself to Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, which I pass on my drive. Today is that day! I love their coffee and it breaks up my drive a little bit. I pick up a large coffee and a water for the road. I eat my almonds in the car.
Time to Get to Work…
6:58- I arrive to work and get into my morning routine: clock in, fill up my water bottle and start putting together the patient list for the day.
Here’s my little work area & some office décor
8:15- Breakfast, part 2: I eat my pear
8:30- Time to officially get this day started! I spend the morning in rounds and seeing patients. Here’s a rundown of the types of things I normally do:
- Provide educations for patients with nutrition-related conditions (diabetes, congestive heart failure, stroke, etc.)
- Assess patients who are at risk nutritionally and provide an intervention (for example, if a patient has a non-healing wound then I might talk to them about the importance of protein intake and order them an amino acid supplement)
- Manage nutrition support (tube feeding and TPN) when a patient cannot eat
12:30- Lunch time! I buy my lunch from the cafeteria today and decide to go with the salad bar. I end up with: lettuce, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, cheese, turkey, eggs and sunflower seeds.
I love getting the salad bar because sometimes my vegetable intake is a little low at home. I try to include a colorful arrangement of vegetables and some sort of protein.
1:00- Time to get back to work… I start charting on all of the patients I saw this morning.
2:15- Our hospital lets local farmers set up a small farmer’s market in the parking lot, and I take a break to go see what kind of vegetables they have today. I love that this is available to employees. It’s convenient, cheaper than the grocery store and of course supports the local farmers.
I end up with tomatoes, a green pepper, some cucumbers, a squash and a cantaloupe for $6.
After my shopping trip, I head back to the floor to see the last of my patients who weren’t available earlier in the day. Then I finish charting on everyone.
I typically leave work at 4:30pm, so sometime in the later afternoon (3:30-4:00), I try to eat a snack that will hold me over until dinner. If I don’t then I am starving by the time I get home. Today I packed some homemade applesauce with ½ C plain greek yogurt.
4:30- Goodbye, hospital. Cya tomorrow.
5:30- I should be home right now, but really I am sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. There is an accident literally ½ mile from where I live, and I try to maintain my sanity while I am going 0 mph. I have also made the mistake of drinking 16 fl oz of water on the drive home. Yeah, not helping the situation.
Home Sweet Home
6:15- Finally get home! The first thing I do is take the puppers for a walk. They are way too excited to stop for a decent pic.
6:30- I make meatloaf for dinner and try to use up a lot of the vegetables I got from the farmer’s market. I end up baking the squash and tossing the tomato and cucumber in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I also cut up the cantaloupe.
8:00- By the time everything finishes cooking, we eat and the kitchen gets cleaned up, it’s already 8pm, so I hop in the shower. I like taking my showers at night because it’s one less thing I have to do in the morning.
8:30- I set out all of my stuff for the following workday. This is a pretty important part of having a smooth morning and leaving for work on time. Here’s what I normally do:
- Set out a clean pair of scrubs and stick a pair of socks with my shoes
- Locate my car keys and put them in my purse beside my work bag
- Pick out my breakfast and put it on the counter
- Find a clean water bottle and stick it in my work bag
- Get my coffee ready for the AM
- Pack my lunch for tomorrow
9:00- Things start winding down for the night. K walks the dogs and I get ready for bed.
9:30- Lights out… I watch TV until about 10 and then go to sleep. Goodnight <3
You get to wear scrubs to work..lucky!! Is that typical for Dietitians in your area? Here we all have to dress up.
I think it depends on the hospital system. The other hospital system’s dress code where I live is business professional with a lab coat.
Hey! :)
I’m going to start my first year of college in the fall — majoring in Nutritional Sciences! To be honest, I’ve started this major in the hopes of being a Registered Dietitian, but now I’ve started searching around for another job…
…just to keep my options open! :)
I’m curious! How many patients do RDs work with, usually? Have you ever worked as an independent dietitian, or have you always worked at a hospital?
Do you have to talk with a lot of people everyday? :D That sounds like fun!
How in the world do you ever assess a patient’s health? That sounds soooo cool! I’m jealous of you and excited for you at the same time! It must be fun to do what you love!
Thanks!
-Me. :)
Hi Sarah- You can check out my “becoming an RD” tab for more RD-related info: https://ggnutritionco.com/becoming-an-rd/
I typically see 8-12 patients per day. Some of them I’m following and others I just see once for an education. I’ve never worked as an independent dietitian…. only in schools and the hospital. Good luck with school!
Thanks for this post. I’m applying for internships right now and I was curious about clinical work, some people don’t seem to like it. Can you tell me about the down-side of your work? What’s your worst day like?
Thanks!
Hi! I have pretty bad social anxiety, and talking to people freaks me out a lot. I’m 23 working with people is extremely difficult for me. But I have a passion for clean eating and helping people with their nutrition when they need it.
I’m interested in perusing this as a career, but I’m afraid I’ll end up not being able to do the job as it seems to be a very social job. Do people ever get upset at you for telling them what they need to be eating? Is this job not at all for someone who is like me?
Thanks!
Hey! I am considering going back to school for my masters in nutrtion. I come from a marketung background. Looking to change feilds however I have an injury from a car accident and I am unable to stand for long long periods of time. Do you have to be on your feet alot or can you make accomodations? Let me know! Thank you!
Hi Gwen! I’m sorry to hear about your accident. I think in terms of being a dietitian as a career, you could definitely find a niche that didn’t require you to be on your feet. I’m not sure how things would go in your internship, though, since you have to go through all sorts of rotations. I wouldn’t say it’s completely out of the question, though.
What advice do you have for young high schoolers who want to become a dietition?
Do you typically not eat any grains all day long? That doesn’t seem very balanced.
If you read my blog then you will see that I eat plenty of grains and carbohydrates in general.
Hi! I’m doing a project on a dietician for a class and I was wondering what skills you need to have for the job?
Love this post! I am thinking about going into dietiecs and have thought about it for years. However I’ve only recently realized how much science goes into the degree! Science isn’t my forte but would you say that it’s worth it? About how much (% estimate?) of your studies required science courses? I hope this makes sense! Thanks in advance!
Truthfully it’s very heavily science-based… Not just the schooling but the profession. Check out the school where you want to go and look at the course list for their dietetics program. That will give you a better idea of what you’re looking at.
I’m considering becoming a dietitian and have a few questions. How many hours do you work a week and how many days off do you get? Is this the average for most dietitians? Also, I’ve read on other blogs about dietitians having an online presence. Is this something that is needed to be a dietitian?
Hi Tyler- this is completely dependent on what type of dietitian you are. Many dietitians that I know just work regular 8-5 jobs. The online presence again would depend on your job. If you’re an entrepreneur or have your own business then I would think you’d want to have an online presence.
Hi! I loved reading this post, I’m interesting in becoming a clinic dietician. Someone recently told me that it is heavily computer based, and less hands on and in person. I saw you have an office and do charts. How much of your job is just “desk work” vs how much of it is with patients and doing hands on things?
I think it depends on the hospital and staffing. If you were doing nutrition educations then you’d spend more time with the patient and less time charting. If you are doing more assessments then you’d probably spend more time at the computer.
Hello! I am applying for nutritionist program. And I was keep wondering, does hospital’s cafetria provide for its patients exactly what their nutritionist advised? Every patient’s diet is different from one anoher. I thought preparing different meals for thousands of different people would be hard.
Usually a doctor orders a diet for a patient when they are admitted. The diet is based off of their health history. So for example, a patient with cardiac issues would be put on a heart-healthy diet. Someone with diabetes would be put on a consistent carbohydrate diet.
How many patients a day do you see?