Job Title: Clinical Nutrition Manager
Department: Mother House and Ross Hall & Wellness
Reports to: Mother House Administrator
Job Status: Full Time / Exempt / Salaried
About Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth:
Impelled by the love of Christ, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL), a Roman Catholic congregation of women religious, offer every loving service in our power to meet the critical needs of God’s people. Established in 1858 in Kansas, the Sisters of Charity live our mission in the spirit of our founders: St. Vincent de Paul, Louise de Marillac, and Mother Xavier Ross. The Sisters, as Gospel-centered women, share a tradition of responding to the needs of the time, ministering to the vulnerable and marginalized, and caring for the fragile Earth. We share our mission in partnership and collaboration with those committed to working for peace and justice.
Position Summary:
The Clinical Nutrition Manager serves as the organization's Registered and Licensed Dietitian and provides leadership for nutrition and dietetic services throughout the Mother House, Ross Hall, and Wellness. This position establishes nutrition standards of care, completes nutrition assessments, develops individualized nutrition care plans, oversees the quality of services provided by the Contracted Food Service Provider, and collaborates with the interdisciplinary team to promote each Sister's health, dignity, independence, and quality of life.
For Ross Hall, the Clinical Nutrition Manager fulfills the responsibilities of the Licensed Dietitian in accordance with Kansas Administrative Regulation (K.A.R.) 28-39-158.
Responsibilities Include:
- Maintain accountability for the clinical and regulatory oversight of dietary services.
- Establish and maintain nutrition standards of care.
- Ensure dietary services support resident health, safety, dignity, and quality of life.
- Provide professional direction related to resident nutrition needs.
Ensure compliance with applicable Kansas regulations, and accepted standards of nutritional practice.
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Overall Responsibilities for Dietetic Services:
The Clinical Nutrition Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, clinical oversight, and regulatory compliance of nutrition and dietetic services for Mother House and Ross Hall & Wellness. This position serves as the facility’s full-time Licensed Dietitian and has overall supervisory responsibility for dietetic services in accordance with Kansas Administrative Regulation (K.A.R.) 28-39-158.
The Clinical Nutrition Manager provides professional leadership for the facility’s nutrition program, ensuring residents receive individualized, safe, and clinically appropriate nutritional care. This position oversees nutrition assessments, care planning, therapeutic diets, nutrition-related quality initiatives, and regulatory compliance.
The Clinical Nutrition Manager collaborates closely with Morrison Living, Mother House, Ross Hall & Wellness’, contracted food service provider, to ensure food service operations support resident nutritional needs, comply with physician orders, and meet all applicable federal and state regulatory requirements. This position serves as the primary SCL resource responsible for clinical nutrition oversight and works collaboratively with nursing, therapy, medical providers, residents, families, and contracted dietary personnel to promote exceptional resident-centered care.
Leads clinical nutrition services and provides oversight of contracted dining services to ensure individualized, person-centered care that supports each Sister’s health, dignity, preferences, and quality of life. Collaborates with the interdisciplinary team to maintain high standards for nutrition care, food safety, regulatory compliance, and dining satisfaction. This position will only be service SCL.
Oversight of Morrison Living Contracted Food Services:
The Clinical Nutrition Manager provides professional oversight of dietary services performed by Morrison Living, Mother House, Ross Hall & Wellness’ contracted food service provider.
Morrison Living maintains responsibility for food production, kitchen operations, staffing, purchasing, inventory management, and meal preparation services as outlined in the contracted scope of services.
The Clinical Nutrition Manager maintains responsibility for ensuring contracted dietary services meet resident nutritional needs and regulatory requirements.
Responsibilities Include:
- Collaborate with Morrison Living leadership regarding dietary operations.
- Ensure menus support physician orders, therapeutic diets, and resident nutritional needs.
- Review menus for nutritional adequacy and regulatory compliance.
- Monitor food quality, safety, and meal service practices.
- Identify concerns related to dietary operations and collaborate with Morrison Living to implement corrective actions.
- Evaluate resident satisfaction with food and dining services.
- Participate in meetings with Morrison Living regarding service performance and improvement opportunities.
Provide clinical direction related to resident nutrition requirements.
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Supervisory Responsibilities:
- The Clinical Nutrition Manager has overall supervisory responsibility for the dietetic services program at Mother House and Ross Hall & Wellness in accordance with K.A.R. 28-39-158.
- This position provides professional leadership and direction for all nutrition and dietetic services and has authority to identify nutrition-related deficiencies, recommend corrective actions, and ensure contracted dietary services provided by Morrison Living support resident care requirements.
While Morrison Living maintains responsibility for food production and kitchen operations, the Clinical Nutrition Manager maintains responsibility for the clinical oversight, regulatory compliance, and quality of dietetic services provided to residents.
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Clinical Nutrition Services:
- Complete comprehensive nutrition assessments for residents according to regulatory requirements and professional standards.
- Develop, implement, and monitor individualized nutrition care plans.
- Identify residents at nutritional risk, including unintended weight loss, malnutrition risk, dehydration, and inadequate intake.
- Monitor nutritional interventions and evaluate effectiveness.
- Ensure physician-ordered diets are accurately implemented.
- Monitor therapeutic diets, texture modifications, allergies, and nutritional restrictions.
- Provide nutrition recommendations to the interdisciplinary care team.
- Participate in resident care planning meetings.
- Collaborate with physicians, nursing staff, speech therapy, and other healthcare professionals.
- Create and update dietary cards timely with new admissions, diet order changes and changes in food preferences.
Provide nutrition education and counseling to residents and families.
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Meal Service Oversight:
The Clinical Nutrition Manager is expected to maintain a visible presence during resident meal service on a routine basis to observe and evaluate the quality, safety, and effectiveness of dietary services.
Responsibilities Include:
- Conduct routine meal rounds during breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a rotating basis to observe meal service operations, evaluate dining practices, and perform food-service and clinical audits to ensure sanitation, safety, organization, diet accuracy, and compliance with established policies and procedures.
- Monitor food quality, temperature, appearance, portion sizes, and presentation.
- Observe resident meal acceptance, nutritional intake, and satisfaction.
- Ensure therapeutic diets, texture-modified diets, allergies, and physician-ordered nutritional interventions are accurately implemented.
- Evaluate timeliness of meal delivery and service.
- Assess the dining environment to promote dignity, resident choice, and person-centered dining.
- Identify opportunities to improve the resident dining experience.
- Collaborate with Morrison Living Healthcare leadership to promptly address meal service concerns or deficiencies.
- Document observations and follow up on corrective actions as necessary.
- Participate in resident council meetings, as appropriate, to address nutrition and dining-related concerns.
- Promote fresh, appealing, Sister-preferred foods prepared on-site and use oral nutrition supplements only when clinically appropriate.
The Clinical Nutrition Manager is responsible for ensuring that contracted food service operations consistently support the nutritional, clinical, and regulatory requirements of Ross Hall & Wellness and comply with all applicable federal and state regulations.
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Leadership and Collaboration:
- Serve as the clinical nutrition leader for Mother House and Ross Hall & Wellness.
- Collaborate with nursing leadership and interdisciplinary team members.
- Provide education regarding nutrition-related care.
- Develop and maintain nutrition policies and procedures.
- Promote evidence-based nutrition practices.
- Support resident-centered care initiatives.
Participate in facility leadership meetings as appropriate.
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Regulatory Compliance and Survey Readiness:
Maintain Compliance With:
- Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS).
- Kansas Administrative Regulations governing long-term care facilities.
- Food safety regulations.
- Infection prevention requirements.
- HIPAA requirements.
Responsibilities Include:
- Maintain readiness for state and federal surveys.
- Provide documentation related to nutrition services.
- Participate in regulatory surveys.
- Develop and monitor corrective action plans.
Ensure dietary services meet regulatory expectations.
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Mission Integration:
The Clinical Nutrition Manager supports the Mission, Vision, and Core Values of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth by providing compassionate, respectful, and dignified care to residents. This position demonstrates stewardship, collaboration, integrity, and commitment to excellence in resident-centered healthcare.
Quality Assurance Performance (QAPI) Expectations:
Maintains accurate, timely documentation; supports positive nutrition outcomes and dining experiences; strengthens interdisciplinary collaboration; and uses audits, feedback, and QAPI to drive continuous improvement.
Participate in facility improvement initiatives by:
- Monitoring nutrition-related quality indicators.
- Tracking weight loss trends.
- Monitoring malnutrition prevention efforts.
- Reviewing nutrition-related adverse events.
- Participating in root cause analyses.
- Developing and implementing improvement strategies.
Reporting nutrition outcomes to leadership.
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Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Knowledge of:
- Geriatric nutrition.
- Therapeutic diets.
- Long-term care regulations.
- Nutrition assessment standards.
- Food safety principles.
- Quality improvement processes.
Ability to:
- Interpret regulations and apply standards of practice.
- Analyze clinical information.
- Lead interdisciplinary teams.
- Communicate effectively with residents, families, staff, and vendors.
- Identify problems and implement solutions.
- Manage competing priorities.
Exercise professional judgment and accountability.
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Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Dietetics, Nutrition, or a related field from an accredited institution.
- Current Registered Dietitian (RD/RDN) credential.
- Current Kansas Licensed Dietitian (LD) credential.
- Minimum of three (3) years clinical nutrition experience.
- Experience in long-term care, skilled nursing, or post-acute care preferred.
- Strong clinical judgment, leadership, communication, organization, and collaborative problem-solving skills.
Commitment to the mission and values of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.
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Preferred Qualifications:
- Five (5) or more years of long-term care nutrition experience.
- Leadership or management experience.
- Experience overseeing contracted food service operations.
- Experience with electronic medical records.
Experience with Quality Assurance Performance Improvement programs.
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Physical Requirements:
- The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Ability to walk throughout the campus and healthcare facility, including resident rooms, dining areas, kitchen spaces, and administrative offices.
- Ability to stand and walk for extended periods while conducting meal rounds, observations, inspections, trainings, and meetings.
- Ability to occasionally bend, reach, stoop, and lift or carry items weighing up to 25 pounds.
- Ability to use computers, mobile devices, and standard office equipment for documentation, communication, data analysis, and reporting.
- Manual dexterity sufficient to operate computers, office equipment, and other tools necessary to perform job duties.
- Ability to maintain visual attention and concentration for reviewing medical records, menus, regulatory documents, reports, and other screen-based or written materials.
Ability to effectively communicate with residents, families, staff, providers, and vendors in a variety of healthcare and dining environments.
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Work Environment:
- Work is performed in a skilled nursing environment including resident rooms, dining areas, offices, and kitchen spaces.
- Exposure to food service environments, cleaning products, and healthcare-related conditions may occur.
This position is an in-office engagement. You will collaborate with a supportive team that values innovation and growth.
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This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Duties and responsibilities may change based on organizational needs.
The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth is an equal opportunity employer. We provide employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected category, except as allowed by law for positions where religious affiliation is a bona fide occupational qualification. This policy applies to recruiting, hiring, promotions, compensation, benefits, termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences.
