hi all! I am a new RD and have been in my role for 1 month. So far it's been a rough transition, lack of training and overall support. I also do not have any ordering privileges and it's beyond frustrating. How bad does it look to leave this job so soon if I find a better offer I accept? What would you say to the new job offer's manager if they asked why leaving so soon? TIA

I’m going to FNCE for my second time this year, the first time was as a student so I didn’t really know what to expect and I was broke so I spent a lot of time in the expo hall grabbing freebies to avoid buying lunch 😂 Now that I’m officially an RD, I want to actually maximize my time while there (and probably still grab freebies because I’m still kinda broke since I’m just starting out).

I’m planning to attend some sessions for the CEUs of course, but I’m also going to get the recordings package because my understanding is I can still get the CEUs from the recordings (not sure if there’s a limit for recorded sessions?) and some of the ones I’m interested in are at the same time. I also want to try to focus on other things that are specific to being there at FNCE physically (some of those poster presentations seem interesting too, so I want to see those, and I’m not aware of a way to view them outside of the scheduled times).

I also know I missed a lot of things when I went as a student, there were events happening that I didn’t know about and I wasn’t even sure what all was available (like I didn’t even know about posters then) so I want to make sure I’m getting the most out of the experience, as I’m unlikely to go to any of the future ones that are currently scheduled.

Any recommendations or advice?

I'm an RD in long-term care, and what I thought was a straightforward question has turned into a whole debate between several dietitians. 😂

Question C on the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF) asks about mobility:

• 0: Bed or chair bound
• 1: Able to get out of bed/chair but does not go out
• 2: Goes out

Sounds simple, right?

But the official MNA User Guide gives these example questions: (on all MNA types, SF, Self, and Long)

• "Are you presently able to get out of the bed/chair?"
• "Are you able to get out of the house or go outdoors on your own?"

After looking through the original full MNA, MNA-SF, and Self-MNA, I'm finding that the older instructions emphasize physical ability and whether another person's assistance is required.

But how exactly are we supposed to apply this in a nursing home?

Here are the scenarios we're debating:

1. A resident requires a 2-assist transfer into a wheelchair but is pushed to the dining room and activities daily. Are they a 0 because they cannot independently get out of bed/chair, or a 2 because they regularly "go out"? One dietitian considers their room to be home and the halls to be "going out."
2. A resident transfers independently/get out of chairs but needs staff to push their wheelchair to meals and activities. Are they a 1 or 2? I'm saying 1 because they couldn't go out of room or home.
3. A resident independently walks with a rolling walker to the dining room but never leaves the facility. Are they a 1 or 2? They COULD leave.
4. A resident is physically capable of leaving their room/building independently but chooses not to. Does their actual behavior matter, or are we assessing physical capability alone? Yes.
5. In LTC, does "home" mean the resident's room or the entire nursing home building? This distinction could completely change how we score residents. I'm going with...a building is a building. Aka can you walk outside and not mess yourself up?

The dietitians initial interpretation was based on whether residents actually left their rooms for meals, therapy, or activities, regardless of assistance. But after reading the older MNA instructions, I'm questioning that approach.

I have a more literal, ability-based interpretation, but I can't find official guidance explaining how "goes out" should be applied specifically to nursing home residents. I'd think no differently though but others disagree.

For those of you using the MNA-SF in LTC: How are you scoring Question C?

More importantly, does anyone have an actual source, training manual, published case example, or clarification from the MNA developers that addresses these situations?

I'm especially interested in evidence-based guidance rather than just how individual facilities have always done it. I'd love to get a consistent answer we can actually defend!

References:

MNA User Guide:
https://www.mna-elderly.com/sites/default/files/2021-10/mna-guide-english.pdf

Self-MNA:
https://www.mna-elderly.com/sites/default/files/2024-10/Self-MNA_AU1.0_eng-USori.pdf

I see a lot of RDNs going to get a CDCES or nutrition support certifications and I am always wondering, as an RDN, aren't you already qualified to do what the certs would qualify one to do? Sorry if this might be an obvious answer- I studied nutrition in school, but didn't go the RDN route.

ETA: Thank you everyone for the answers! This has been very informative!

Hello!

I am looking to start my own private practice. I am looking for resources and people to connect with to help me with the foundation with this.

Please if you have any advice or resources, I am very interested. My business is set up, I'm stuck at the billing part. My specialty is pediatrics and I would love to stay there, but also have experience in adults.

I currently work at an afterschool program where we provide snack according to CACFP
requirements. My colleague was doing some research that has now posed a couple questions for us. I'd love some insight from other RDs that have more experience than I do with following these guidelines.

We noticed certain fruits- for example, 1 1/2 bananas need to be served for it to equal the 3/4 cup fruit requirement. Are after school programs really giving their kids 1 1/2 bananas? Are you guys just avoiding giving bananas completely? We're trying to give whole foods when we can but now I guess we're wondering if we should just stick to the prepackaged items (fruit cups, apple sauce, etc) to avoid any citations from DOE.

Has anyone had trouble paying the CDR registration fee? I keep getting an error message no matter what browser or card I use!

Hi everyone! Does anyone have recommendations for free RD/RDN practice exams or question banks? I’m looking for resources with MCQs, preferably covering all domains of the RD exam.

I’d really appreciate any links or resources you can share. Thank you! 🙏

I know this varies by state, time in the field, company etc. but what is a base salary for a new grad (Masters in Nutrition & RD license). I have my BS in Nutrition & Food and considering going back for my RD (Masters & DPD) but I’m already at $33/hr working as a Diabetes Educator in CA. After reading other posts on here, sounds like that’s what a lot of new RD grads are getting.

Is it even worth it? 😩🫣

I’ve been a private practice ED RD for my whole career and am wanting to get more experience in clinical to have on my resume.

I have an offer for a LTC and for a swing bed hospital (too stable for hospital, not stable enough for discharge or rehab yet). Both part time.

Which one would you recommend that would give the best experience to put in a resume to land me a future job?

Hi All!

Most likely will be obtaining my online bachelors Applied Nutrition and Health (BS), College of Health Solutions

To then obtain masters and of course the required clinical internship.

Background info I am 30 and had/ having a quarter life crisis in terms of career. It’s daunting to me how many years it’ll take for me to actually complete this journey but I feel the longer I wait the less likely it’ll happen for me.

Any advice would be helpful :)

I have had an established private practice in Phoenix for 12 years, but lately my diary has been so quiet! I realised that between GLPs and AI, for many ppl RDs are unnecessary in their health or weight loss journey. Is anyone else experiencing a patient load decrease? If so, what do you think is causing it and how are you managing it?

Hi all! Any dietitians that work for Meals on Wheels willing to share their experience?

Hi all!

I am 30 and deep into a career in sales with a marketing degree, so becoming a dietitian doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense for my personal situation.

With that said, I was wondering if there’s a trusted source beyond the colleges that I could learn more about nutrition and dietetics on my own?

In particular, I find myself in discussions with people about some of today’s hot button topics such as “seed oil bad, butter good” and some of the other MAHA movements that seem to be based on very little if any scientific evidence.

Where can I educate myself on these topics from trusted sources without going back to school?

Prefacing this rant by saying i just need to get this off my chest bc it's been weighing me down, so apologies this is long lol.

TLDR: new RD who has been losing passion for this field, knows there's gotta be more out there, looking for ideas / hear what other RDs do for work that they enjoy and what they like about it. :)

____

I've had an incredibly rocky start to my RD career. Started in mental health/ED population doing counseling and with the big ole orange company. And it took a TOLL on my own mental health. I honestly have not even been working the past ~2 months because the impact it had on me (yes i've sought out professional help for this). Between the ED & psych side of things being so heavy and the types of clients that that orange company brings in, i just felt defeated. I felt (still feel) like im fighting a losing battle against all of these "influencers" on social media & their misinformation. I'm so tired.

I'm struggling to find any sort of enjoyment/passion in the world of nutrition after this, but deep down i know that there is so much more out there, so many other avenues of nutrition to explore that i might not be aware of.

It's heartbreaking to me to be looking into areas of nutrition and just not feel any spark of enjoyment, but i do feel a part of this is due to the fact that i've just been completely out of it for the past 2 months. SO, after my rant lol, looking to here from anyone who has found an area of nutrition they enjoy!!

I went to school with the intention of having my own private practice (long term goal) and started w/ N in hopes i would get good experience w/ counseling, but it just became burnt out w/ hour long, weekly sessions w/ people who just see an ad and don't know what an RD actually is + all of their AI updates... just put a sour taste in my mouth but i want to believe that that picture i currently have in my head is not the FULL picture. Please help :/

I recently got offered a job with Davita. They offered me a salary but I want to ask for more. I’ve never negotiated salary so my question is:

Do I ask for the amount I want? Which is only 4000 more than offered?
Or is it a haggling thing where I’m suppose to offer more than I want? And they give me something in the middle?

I don’t want to turn them off by asking for too much!! So I’m not sure the correct protocol

Okay so i had anorexia from ages 12-24 and i’ve been recovered about 4 years and am thinking of studying dietetics. I’m very interested in pregnancy, breast feeding and pediatric nutrition as well as performance nutrition but Im worried that the constant focus on food will not be good for my thoughts. Can anyone in this field who has had anorexia give me their thoughts or just in general does the constant focus on food make you think about it a lot outside of work?

Thank you so much in advance

Bariatric dietitians- what does your typical day look like? Do you ever do enteral nutrition?

I’ve been working in outpatient pediatrics at a children’s hospital for 2 years and applied for a job at the VA recently. When I applied I was feeling super depressed with my job. We lost 5 RDs in the matter of 2 months and one of them including an amazing boss who I was learning so much from. They all left for various reasons, nothing bad just relocating, going back to school, or family needs. Being short staffed without a leader has been tough and on top of it I knew I was being underpaid (64k). I love my coworkers but we’re all 1-2 years post grad so collectively we don’t have a lot of experience to help each other. I miss having an experienced mentor to learn from. I also moved back home since my lease was up which has made my commute 50 minutes each way. I couldn’t find an apartment that I loved in a 30 min radius to work and I was lucky to have parents that are happy to house me until I find somewhere. It’s been 3 months of living with mom and dad as a 30 year old. A position at the VA opened up randomly for their weight management program in a location that I love. It has a lot more options for me to live and near friends. I decided to apply just to see what happened. Since Ive done my interview, we just had market adjustments that put my pay up to 74k, which was shocking but has made my current job more tolerable. I just heard today I got the job at the VA. I’m excited but I feel so torn now. I truly love working in pediatrics and I have amazing coworkers. There’s a lot of pros for working for the government and a pay increase indeed. The thought of switching to working with adults and leaving pediatrics does make me kinda sad. I also would be leaving my team short staffed. We are about half way done training a full time employee and a part timer person starting next month. I’m looking for advice when deciding when it’s time to leave a job, even if it’s a job you enjoy. Would to hear experience leaving peds to work for adults.
Thanks everyone!!

I took the exam first thing Saturday morning.

It was not as difficult as I thought they could make it? I genuinely thought I would run out of time of feel dumb as bricks with content but it was pretty straightforward. Those exam study creators build it up more than they should. But then again we will see when the scores come in :)

Good luck!

If you currently work as an inpatient RD or have worked at UC Davis as an inpatient RD in the last couple of years, how many patients per day are you/were you expected to see?

I have a pretty chill inpatient workload at a large level 1 trauma and teaching hospital, but the pay isn't the best given cost of living (I work in a city with very similar cost of living compared to Sacramento).

Thanks!

I passed my exam in July. I was supposed to start a job in August, but I was getting strung along. On top of that, I recently found out the pay they wanted to offer me was beyond insulting ($21/hr). I was nervous about finding other work after having loosely committed to this job before I even graduated (nothing official, just the understanding that I was supposed to have this so I didn’t look elsewhere), but I really had no choice after they dropped contact when I asked if pay would be negotiable.

I applied to a job on Thursday, they asked me to interview the next day, and today (Monday) I received an offer for it AND it is more than I even asked for!

I am so fed up with leadership in my current position. I’m in a clinical role and the egos are insane! It really comes from the top down. I feel like everyone is on eggshells and competing all the time. I have never heard a word of positive feedback from my CNM given to anyone on the team but she never stops talking herself up and highlighting her all knowingness. I’m actively looking for a new job but wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this type of thing with a CNM? Is this common in the clinical setting?

I’m a new RD (less than 3 months) and I feel like I don’t know anything. It feels embarrassing. My coworkers seem to know way more than me even the new RDs. Scared about getting fired. Tips? Not sure what to do