title: Standards of Practice criteria: consultant dietitians in health care facilities.
abstract: Establishment of quality assurance guidelines is becoming increasingly necessary in long-term-care facilities. The Consultant Dietitians in Health Care Facilities (CD-HCF) dietetic practice group of The American Dietetic Association (ADA) developed 27 documentations/outcome-oriented guidelines for quality assurance. The documentations were categorized according to the six Standards of Practice developed by ADA. The six general categories covered establishment of performance criteria, development of individual practice plans, knowledge of nutrition, self-development, research, and use of resources. We surveyed 188 members of the CD-HCF about their levels of agreement in theory with and frequency of completion for each documentation. Of the respondents, 165 (88%) were employed in long-term-care facilities. Respondents had worked as consultant dietitians for a mean of 10 years. Four standards and the total questionnaire had highly significant positive correlations between agreement in theory and frequency of completion. The findings indicate that consultant dietitians agree with the theory of the documentation and frequently complete documentation.
authors.affiliation: Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management Department, Iowa State University, Ames 50011.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Gilmore
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Niedert
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leif
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D003253:Consultants; D004046:Dietetics / Q000592:standards*; D006268:Health Facilities; D006761:Hospitals; D011786:Quality Control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires