Registered Dietetic Technician and Dietetic Assistant
Class Specification – C.10
Registered Dietetic Technician – 5419
Dietetic Assistant – 5430
October 1990, Updated July 2026
Series Concept
In a supporting capacity, Registered Dietetic Technicians and Dietetic Assistants provide a wide range of nutritional services including nutritional screening, charting and calculation of nutrient intake, monitoring of NPO (nothing by mouth) patients, menu modification, processing of diet orders, providing for quality assurance, participation as a health team member in such duties as the communication of basic diet principals and general nutrition education to the patient and performance of other related duties as assigned.
Incumbents perform nutritional screening on patients which may include interviews with patients to collect and document information as well as the transcribing of information from medical records pertaining to diet, appetite status, allergies, weight history; calculate patients’ ideal body weight; plot and interpret growth percentile for pediatric patients; and record data on patient profile card.
Incumbents customize patient menus and plan between-meal feedings in accordance with the physician’s dietary prescriptions, ensuring nutritional needs are met. They also accurately calculate the required quantities of enteral feeding products based on the physician’s prescription to support optimal patient care. Incumbents collect and process diet orders to ensure that Food Service Workers serve meals correctly and in accordance with nutritional specifications. They identify and document food service issues; tally patient census by diet category, and assist in evaluating food products.
Class Concept
Registered Dietetic Technician
Registered Dietetic Technicians perform their duties under general supervision. In addition to the full range of duties outlined in the Series Concept, incumbents are typically assigned the more difficult patient care cases andjor to patients who are at a moderate to serious degree of nutritional risk. Examples of difficult patient populations include, but are not limited to, adult or pediatric critical care, the neonatal, burn and metabolic units. Incumbents participate more extensively in the training and teaching of students and newly hired Dietetic Assistants. Incumbents may serve as lead worker over subordinate employees.
Dietetic Assistant
Under Supervision, incumbents perform the full range of duties outlined in the Series Concept. Dietetic Assistants are typically assigned less difficult patient care cases andjor patients who are at a lower degree of nutritional risk than those assigned to the Registered Dietetic Technician.
Minimum Qualifications
Applicants and incumbents are expected to possess the skills, knowledge and abilities essential to the successful performance of the duties assigned to the position.
Registered Dietetic Technician
Incumbents must be registered with the American Dietetic Association as a Registered Dietetic Technician or Dietitian.
Dietetic Assistant
Incumbents must be registered as a Dietetic Technician or eligibility for registration as a Registered Dietetic Technician or equivalent combination of education and experience. Applicants and incumbents are expected to possess the skills, knowledge, and abilities essential to the successful performance of duties assigned to the position.