Clarification from the agency

Current, Permanent, Greater Los Angeles Department of Veterans' Affairs VHA employees only AND Health Professions Trainee (HPT) NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

• Conduct comprehensive nutrition assessment for patients at nutrition risk.
• Develop and implement an individualized plan for medical nutrition therapy in accordance with the patient's medical program goals and objectives.
• Accurately obtains and interprets medical information pertinent to the patient's nutritional care to determine risk, assess nutritional status and develop individual specialized care plans to simultaneously address several disease processes.
• Calculate nutritional requirements (calories, protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, electrolytes, fluid) and necessary diet restrictions or food/drug interactions.
• Tailor a diet to each individual client's according to physical and metabolic needs and designs the nutritional treatment plan with consideration for psychosocial, behavioral, ethnic and cultural factors to obtain desirable outcomes and promote long term adherence to a medical nutritional care plan.
• Identify patients in need of nutrition support and recommends the appropriate mode of nutrition support, including suitable route, formula, and rate of administration.
• Provide initial and on-going nutritional assessments of patients receiving specialized nutrition support.
• Utilize assessment and evaluation techniques that consider age-specific needs as well as cultural, religious, and ethnic concerns.
• Orders labs, diets and consults per Scope of Practice/Clinical privileges.
• Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness and outcome of medical nutrition therapy interventions.
• Evaluate the patient's response to care based on identified, measurable outcomes and reviews the plan as appropriate.
• Assess educational needs and provides nutrition counseling for individuals and groups, incorporating a learning approach that considers the cultural, religious, educational, and medical situation of the patient.
• Include information regarding budgeting, menu planning, food purchasing and preparation, food storage and sanitation.
• Provide appropriate follow-up in accordance with patient's treatment goals, referring patients for outpatient counseling, community or home health service as appropriate.
• May assist in the education of dietetic students and interns.
• Documents in the medical record, the education materials provided, the care plan determined by the provider and the client, an assessment of the Veteran's comprehension level to the education given and the expected compliance.

Work Schedule: 7:30am -4:00pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
• *Due to the nature of the position it is preferred requirement to actively maintain a Driver's License for this position**

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Registration: All applicants must hold the RDN credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing agency of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Note: Applicants who hold the RDN credential have met the education requirement (e.g. bachelor's degree or higher) of CDR, as such this occupation is considered professional and scientific with a positive education requirement and the procedures in Part I, Chapter 4 of this Handbook will be followed when applying Veteran's preference.
  • Exception for Dietitians who do not possess the RDN credential.
    • (a) Non-credentialed Dietitians who meet the basic qualification requirements and have fulfilled the requirements below, but do not possess the RDN credential, may be given a temporary full-time appointment not to exceed one year under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2).
      • i Non-credentialed Dietitians must have fulfilled each of the following:
        • A. Earned a bachelor's or higher degree from a U.S. regionally accredited college, university or foreign equivalent (refer to ii below).
        • B Completed an ACEND® accredited experiential or supervised practice program and provide a verification statement from the program director that conveys eligibility to take the CDR registration exam as a prospective RDN. A list of ACEND® accredited programs is located on the ACEND® website or at ACEND Accredited Programs Directory.
      • ii Foreign Education. To be creditable, college and/or university degrees earned outside the U.S and its territories must be evaluated by ACEND® and meet ACEND®'s International Dietitian Education standards which are designed to provide graduates with the knowledge and competencies to sit for the CDR credentialing exam.
    • (b) Non-credentialed Dietitians may only be appointed at the GS-07 or GS-09 grade level and may not be promoted/converted until they obtain their RDN credential.
    • (c) Non-credentialed Dietitians must provide care under the supervision of a RDN at or above the full performance level.
    • (d) Temporary appointments of non-credentialed Dietitian will not be extended beyond one year or converted to a new temporary appointment.
    • (e) Failure to Obtain Registration. In all cases, Dietitians must actively pursue meeting registration requirements starting from their appointment date. At the time of appointment, servicing Human Resources (HR) staff in collaboration with the supervisor, will provide non-registered Dietitians the written requirement to obtain registration, the date by which they must acquire it and the consequences for not doing so by the deadline. Failure to obtain registration within one year from the date of appointment will result in removal from the Dietitian, GS-0630 occupation and may result in termination of employment.
• Loss of Credential. In collaboration with HR Office staff, management officials must immediately relieve employees who fail to maintain the required registration/certification of duties and responsibilities associated with the occupation and/or assignment, which may also result in separation from employment.
• English Language Proficiency. Dietitian candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations:
GS-09 Dietitian (Clinical) (Developmental) - Experience/Education Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-09 do you meet one of the below options which demonstrates the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities?
- Knowledge of various accrediting and regulatory requirements.
- Knowledge of virtual technology to provide nutrition care.
- Ability to deliver patient care using the NCP (e.g., assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring and evaluation).
- Ability to apply evidence-based nutrition practices to improve patient outcomes.
- Ability to develop patient-centered goals.
- Ability to collect data for performance improvement studies.
- Ability to collaborate with stakeholders.

GS-11 Dietitian (Clinical) (Full Performance Level) Experience Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-11 do you possess at least 1 year of experience as an RDN/RD equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-09) which demonstrates the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities?
- Skill in delivering patient care using the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) (e.g., assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring, and evaluation).
- Skill in interpreting research to apply evidence-based nutrition practices to improve patient outcomes.
- Skill in developing patient-centered goals.
- Skill in analyzing data for performance improvement studies.
- Skill in collaborating with stakeholders.
- Ability to comply with various accrediting, regulatory and agency authorities.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11 The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-09 to GS-11

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.