Employment

Nutrition Counselling Assignment

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The nutrition counseling assignment was a very enlightening experience that took me through a variety of emotions.

Before starting this course and completing my preliminary interview, I was very nervous in my abilities to provide a meaningful experience for my client. Although I recognized that this assignment was intended to allow a learning experience, I still wanted to ensure that I provide the client with some useful tools or information so they felt that is was a meaningful activity. I would have to say that my greatest concern was that I would have the skills and confidence to successfully carry out the nutrition counseling session. To calm my nerves, I just kept telling myself that this is my first experience counseling a patient and that it is not going to be perfect because I am still learning. I also continued to tell myself that although I will get more comfortable in this role it is never going to be perfect as there is always something else to learn, and new skills to acquire.

The preliminary counseling session had a couple of unexpected experiences, and thus did not go according to plan. The original time and date agreed upon for the initial interview failed to come to fruition due to a scheduling mishap. Because of this I was unable to complete the preliminary interview before the in class debriefing session. Although this initially felt disastrous, upon reflection it was actually a valuable learning experience. In practice there are inevitably going to be times where I will have clients change appointments at the last minute, or not show up all together. This experience taught me that in the end it is not a disaster as appointments can always be rescheduled. Luckily I was able to re-schedule with my client as to complete the preliminary interview, even though it was after the initial dead line

After the Scheduling mishap, the preliminary counseling session went very well! My client had quite a unique situation in that she was dealing with some troubles with disordered eating. Initially, I thought this might be too great in scope for me to handle due to my limited knowledge, but I thought it would be a good challenge. As soon as I started the counseling session, all of my nerves were put at ease. The client was very friendly and open, and was very keen to participate in the session. Although the client description had mentioned disordered eating, I soon came to discover that the client had already overcome a number of struggles, and was looking for more tools to help her continue down her road to wellness. This experience introduced me to the notion that all though a case may seem one way, they can often end up being completely different. It taught me to come into every situation prepared, but open minded to expect the unexpected.

The follow up session went equally well. From my first session with my client, I sensed that she was looking for some tools to help her establish a healthy relationship with food. To prepare for the follow up session, I gathered a few resources related to the food groups as well as portion control, but I decided to leave the format of the session open ended to enable her to ask any questions she may have. This proved to work out well, as the client was very appreciative of the resources I brought, but seemed to be more interested in having a number of her questions answered.

This whole experience taught me the importance of coming into each counseling session open minded, and tailoring the counseling approach to suit the needs of each client. Overall, this experience more than any other made me very excited to start my career as a Dietitian!

Second Key Experience

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Description: A second key experience I had that contributed to be growing as a future dietitian was volunteering as a visiting volunteer at Ridge Meadows Hospital.

Personal Reflection: Empathy is a key attribute required to be a compassionate and understanding Dietitian. Visiting elderly patients on the Patient Assessment to Home unit at Ridge Meadows Hospital gave me an invaluable experience that I believe helped me to develop as an empathetic listener. Patients staying on the unit where I was volunteering were often in transitional stages in their lives going  from living on their own to moving on to living in group or care homes. This was often very hard on the individuals, and they would often share with me how they were feeling about the transitions they were going through. Although I found it difficult at times to see some of theses individuals upset about their current situation, it gave me an invaluable opportunity to further develop as an empathetic listener, listening to what they were saying, and show compassion for what they were going through.

This experience also enabled me to develop as a patient listener. In addition to people transitioning in their living situations, there were also a number of people suffering from Alzheimers and Dementia. While visiting with theses individuals, they would often forget what they were talking about, or repeat something they had perviously said. This gave me a uniques perspective into how to effectively carry a conversation with such people, allowing them to continue on with their story regardless of if they lost their place or repeated themselves, without suggesting that they had repeated themselves or changed topics.

As a Dietitan I believe the empathetic and patient listening skills I developed Volunteering at Ridge Meadows Hospital will provide a fantastic foundation to build upon to becoming an empathetic and compassionate health care provider.

Specific Competency Indicators Addressed: 

Communication and Collaboration 2.04 E: Demonstrate Empathy

First Key Experience

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Description: My first key experience was volunteering with the Healthy Start Breakfast Program at Central Elementary in Port Coquitlam. This position gave me the opportunity to work in a a diverse team of volunteers and teachers to prepare healthy breakfasts for thirty children three days per-week.

Personal Reflection: This experience gave me first hand experience working in a diverse team of people towards the common goal of preparing delicious and nutritious breakfasts for children at an inner city school. Overall I feel that this experience helped me achieve some of the nutrition care traits outlined in the Integrated Competencies for Dietetic Education and Practice (ICDEP).

Working in a diverse team consisting of teachers, school board staff, the principal of the school as well as parent and student volunteers, gave me first had experience of what it is like to work in and coordinate a diverse team of people. I believe that this has given me experience developing strategies to communicate nutrition related information with students and other team members, as well as identifying the roles of team members in supporting the implementation of a plan as is outlined in the ICDEP. In this position it was important for me to be able to communicate with different members of the team effectively to ensure that the breakfast was made on time meeting both nutrition and safety standards so that the children had time to eat, and would not be late for class. This allowed me to develop my communication skills as I had to be able to effectively communicate with all members of the team which ranged from grade two students through to teachers and parents.

This experience also gave me the ability to recognize the role of each person in the team and support them in their position. It also gave me a valuable experience to further prove that when everyone, my self included, fills their own role successfully and supports those around them, very large tasks impossible for one person to complete become achievable.

I believe that the experiences I gained by volunteering with The Healthy Start Breakfast Program will prove beneficial as I continue through the Dietetics program, and on to a career in the field.

Specific Competency Indicators Addressed: 

Nutrition Care 3.03 D: Identify strategies to communicate nutrition care plan with client, interprofessional team and relevant others

Nutrition Care 3.03 C: Identify the roles of team members in supporting the implementation of a care plan.

Second Key Experience

Assignment, Employment, Volunteer, , , , Leave a comment

Description: A second key experience I had that contributed to be growing as a future dietitian was volunteering as a visiting volunteer at Ridge Meadows Hospital.

Personal Reflection: Empathy is a key attribute required to be a compassionate and understanding Dietitian. Visiting elderly patients on the Patient Assessment to Home unit at Ridge Meadows Hospital gave me an invaluable experience that I believe helped me to develop as an empathetic listener. Patients staying on the unit where I was volunteering were often in transitional stages in their lives going  from living on their own to moving on to living in group or care homes. This was often very hard on the individuals, and they would often share with me how they were feeling about the transitions they were going through. Although I found it difficult at times to see some of theses individuals upset about their current situation, it gave me an invaluable opportunity to further develop as an empathetic listener, listening to what they were saying, and show compassion for what they were going through.

This experience also enabled me to develop as a patient listener. In addition to people transitioning in their living situations, there were also a number of people suffering from Alzheimers and Dementia. While visiting with theses individuals, they would often forget what they were talking about, or repeat something they had perviously said. This gave me a uniques perspective into how to effectively carry a conversation with such people, allowing them to continue on with their story regardless of if they lost their place or repeated themselves, without suggesting that they had repeated themselves or changed topics.

As a Dietitan I believe the empathetic and patient listening skills I developed Volunteering at Ridge Meadows Hospital will provide a fantastic foundation to build upon to becoming an empathetic and compassionate health care provider.

Specific Competency Indicators Addressed: 

Communication and Collaboration 2.04 E: Demonstrate Empathy

First Key Experience

Assignment, Employment, Volunteer, , , , Leave a comment

Description: My first key experience was volunteering with the Healthy Start Breakfast Program at Central Elementary in Port Coquitlam. This position gave me the opportunity to work in a a diverse team of volunteers and teachers to prepare healthy breakfasts for thirty children three days per-week.

Personal Reflection: This experience gave me first hand experience working in a diverse team of people towards the common goal of preparing delicious and nutritious breakfasts for children at an inner city school. Overall I feel that this experience helped me achieve some of the nutrition care traits outlined in the Integrated Competencies for Dietetic Education and Practice (ICDEP).

Working in a diverse team consisting of teachers, school board staff, the principal of the school as well as parent and student volunteers, gave me first had experience of what it is like to work in and coordinate a diverse team of people. I believe that this has given me experience developing strategies to communicate nutrition related information with students and other team members, as well as identifying the roles of team members in supporting the implementation of a plan as is outlined in the ICDEP. In this position it was important for me to be able to communicate with different members of the team effectively to ensure that the breakfast was made on time meeting both nutrition and safety standards so that the children had time to eat, and would not be late for class. This allowed me to develop my communication skills as I had to be able to effectively communicate with all members of the team which ranged from grade two students through to teachers and parents.

This experience also gave me the ability to recognize the role of each person in the team and support them in their position. It also gave me a valuable experience to further prove that when everyone, my self included, fills their own role successfully and supports those around them, very large tasks impossible for one person to complete become achievable.

I believe that the experiences I gained by volunteering with The Healthy Start Breakfast Program will prove beneficial as I continue through the Dietetics program, and on to a career in the field.

Specific Competency Indicators Addressed:  Nutrition Care 3.03 D: Identify strategies to communicate nutrition care plan with client, interprofessional team and relevant others Nutrition Care 3.03 C: Identify the roles of team members in supporting the implementation of a care plan.

Welcome!

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Hello everyone and thank-you for visiting my blog! This is an exciting endeavour for me as this will be my outlet to share all of my experiences as I go through the Dietetics program! Stay tuned for updates as I embark on my journey to becoming a Registered Dietitian!