“Working with such a great, multi-disciplinary team in the ICU, it’s important to have that team close at hand, available for us to collaborate and develop care plans for, and with, our patients.”
Story by Sean Woods; Photo by Heather Kipling
Leanne Smith’s interest in becoming a registered dietitian started with filling out a survey.
“It was one of those surveys you take at school, to see what kind of career might suit you, and dietitian was a match for me,” says Smith, who has been a registered dietitian at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre for 18 years.
“They had a career fair shortly after, and one of the presenters — who actually ended up being my manager years later — was a dietitian. Her presentation really spoke to me and that’s when I made up my mind.”
Smith completed her bachelor of science, majoring in Food and Nutrition, through Red Deer College (one year) and the University of Alberta (three years). She then honed her skills with a one-year internship at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton.
“The internship part of the program is really important,” she explains. “It really allows you to understand how the classroom work translates to the work world. It makes it practical, applying those skills you learned in school.”
Working with individuals, families, groups and organizations, dietitians provide nutrition knowledge and expertise to help Albertans enjoy good health, prevent and manage nutrition-related diseases and recover from illness and surgery.
“We have dietitians that work in a variety of different environments,” Smith says. “Public Health, Chronic Disease Management, Acute Care, Continuing Care, and so on.”
“For example, dietitians in Public Health often do a lot of work in health promotion, while a dietitian in Continuing Care would focus on maintaining or improving the patient’s quality of life.”
Smith is a team lead for Acute Care Nutrition Services in AHS Central Zone. She supports the clinical practice of zone dietitians and participates on various provincial working groups. She also covers the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Short-Stay Surgery Unit, where she performs nutrition assessments on patients and develops nutrition care plans, then follows up on those plans and adjusts when necessary.
“My day usually starts by reviewing our dietitian report — a census of all patients we have in the ICU — to see if anyone can benefit from nutrition intervention,” she says. “Then I check for any patient consultations and identify scheduled follow-ups and do my list of people that need to be seen.”
Smith adds that the ICU is a very collaborative environment. Dietitians work with nurses, physicians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech-language pathologists and other disciplines to ensure they are managing and meeting the needs of patients.
“Working with such a great, multi-disciplinary team in the ICU, it’s important to have that team close at hand, available for us to collaborate and develop care plans for, and with, our patients.”
But the best part of being a dietitian, Smith says, is working with patients and seeing how her role can help them get stronger and healthier.
“Being able to see patients who have been quite sick make such tremendous strides to recovery, and know that I had a small part to play…that’s what does it for me.”
As a dietitian, Smith feels it’s important to live the healthy principles that she shares with her patients. Beyond making nutritious food choices, Smith plays volleyball in a local league, and is active with her husband and six-year old son as they enjoy favourite activities such as camping and walking the family dog.
Of course, Smith says that balance in life is also important.
“We like to eat our treats, too! Everything in moderation.”
