Clinical Nutrition Manager

The body is a little bit like a gumball machine—what you put in it and how much determines what you get out. If you put in a lot of garbage (i.e., unhealthy foods), then you get out garbage (i.e., diseases).

Clinical Nutrition Managers educate patients on healthy eating practices to lower their chances of developing certain diseases, thereby helping them lead healthier and more active lives. Clinical Nutrition Managers also help patients, but do so by training, leading, and assisting the Clinical Nutrition Managers who work beneath them.

Nutritionists start their evaluation of a patient by finding out what they’re eating and what health problems they’re dealing with. They might ask the patient to keep a food journal, undergo tests, or give a detailed family history. From here, they can prescribe different varieties of foods or ways of eating to fill in nutrient gaps or help clear up health issues.

When you’re the Clinical Nutrition Manager, you usually don’t see patients, but still help in their healing. To do this, you oversee evaluations, help make new dietary plans, or set up classes to teach your employees about new and different diseases.

This role is primarily supervisory. You interview and hire new staff or volunteers, give performance reviews or raises, and fire any unsuitable staff. You handle all problems that come up, whether it’s a staff member with a scheduling issue or a client with a problem with one of your Nutritionists. Your job is to make sure the clinic or hospital where you work runs smoothly and gives the best care possible.