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Nutritionists need good communication, teaching, and counseling skills to help patients improve their nutrition. They can improve these skills by enrolling in continuing education classes, using simple language, establishing rapport with patients, and asking open-ended questions.
The leading center for nutritionist skills in communication, teaching and counseling. The ability to communicate clearly with patients allows these professionals to talk to patients so they clearly understand what they need to do to improve their nutrition. Teaching and counseling are also essential, as many patients need to learn the basics of proper diet and often need help in the process, particularly if they are struggling with health problems. A registered dietitian or nutritionist can take several steps to improve these skills, such as enrolling in continuing education classes. She can also learn to change languages and how to talk to patients.
A very simple way to increase nutritionist skills is to enroll a nutritionist in a continuing education class that addresses a weak skill area. For example, in the 1980s, it was determined that nutritionists needed to improve their teaching skills. Those who enrolled in short classes with effective teaching demonstrated an improvement in instructional ability soon after the class ended. Continuing to take these courses over the course of a career can ensure that skills remain sharp, as the teaching skills learned by students in the sample class have waned after several months.
Nutritionists can develop their counseling skills by learning to have less direct, nutrition-only conversations with patients. In other words, most patients respond better to a nutritionist’s recommendations if they establish a rapport with them, rather than having conversations that focus solely on diet and nutrition. One way to develop these nutritionist skills is to start these conversations slowly, over time. For example, a nutritionist might ask about a patient’s general well-being or make a comment about the weather before moving on to share nutrition-related information. Asking a patient questions is another way a nutritionist can improve her counseling skills. These consultations must be open, so that the patient can answer them in a more complete and truthful way.
Communication, particularly with patients who are not well-versed in nutrition, is one of the most important skills of a nutritionist. An easy way to improve this type of skill is for a nutritionist to eliminate specialized jargon from their vocabulary. In other words, before using a term that a patient may not be familiar with, the dietitian should take a few minutes to explain exactly what that term means and what its impact on the patient is. Another way for a dietitian to improve their communication skills is to ask the patient to put what he has just said into the patient’s own words. In this way, the nutritionist can compare what she meant with the way the patient interpreted it and adjust as necessary.
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