Communication, teaching, and counseling are all important dietitian skills. These professionals can talk to patients and make sure they understand what they need to do to improve their nutrition if they have the ability to communicate clearly with them. Teaching and counseling are also important because many patients need to learn the basics of proper diet and often require assistance, especially if they are suffering from health issues. A dietitian or nutritionist can improve these skills by enrolling in continuing education classes, for example. She might also learn to adapt her language and tone of voice when speaking with patients.
Enrolling in a continuing education class that addresses a weak skill area is a very simple way for a registered dietitian to improve their skills. In the 1980s, for example, it was decided that nutritionists needed to improve their teaching abilities. Those who took short classes on effective teaching showed an improvement in their ability to teach shortly after the class ended. The teaching skills that students learned in the example class waned after several months, so continuing to take such courses throughout a career can ensure that skills remain sharp.
By learning to have less direct, nutrition-only conversations with patients, nutritionists can improve their counseling skills. To put it another way, most patients respond better to a dietitian’s recommendations if she builds a relationship with them rather than having only diet and nutrition conversations with them. One way to develop these dietitian skills is to gradually initiate these conversations over time. Before sharing nutrition-related information, a dietitian might inquire about the patient’s general well-being or make a remark about the weather. Another way a dietitian can improve her counseling skills is to ask patients questions. These questions should be open-ended so that the patient can respond fully and honestly.
One of the most important dietitian skills is communication, especially with patients who are unfamiliar with nutrition. One simple way for a nutritionist to improve this skill is to eliminate specialized jargon from her vocabulary. To put it another way, before using a term that a patient may not be familiar with, the nutritionist should take a few moments to explain what that term means and how it affects the patient. A dietitian can also improve her communication skills by asking the patient to repeat what she just said in their own words. The nutritionist can then compare what she meant to how the patient understood it and make any necessary adjustments.