A system of workload measurement for clinical dietitians

Although the role of the clinical dietitian has undergone dramatic change in recent years, standards for staffing patterns that were developed in 1935 and often still in use. The need for workload measurement systems to quantify the daily activities performed by clinical dietitians led to the development of a new system at the University of Alberta Hospitals in 1984. The workload of clinical dietitians was divided into eight major categories and further divided into 60 activities. A one- or two-week study was conducted four times over an 18-month period. The results indicated that 44 to 54% of the dietitians' time was spent in activities involving direct patient care and team approach. The system has enabled this institution to quantify the workload of its clinical dietitians and may provide a vehicle to measure the impact of major changes on that workload. Since the system covers all possible activities of the clinical dietitian, it may be applicable for use in other institutions. In view of rising health care costs, hospitals must make greater efforts to improve the efficiency of their operations while maintaining the quality of health care services provided to patients. This issue, as it applies to clinical dietetics, was recently addressed by the Nutrition and Food Services Department at the University of Alberta Hospitals.