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Nutrition technician skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Eric West,
Eric West
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical nutrition technician skills. We ranked the top skills for nutrition technicians based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 32.9% of nutrition technician resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a nutrition technician needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 nutrition technician skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how nutrition technicians use patients:
  • Collaborated with patients under dietitian supervision to ensure compliance with diet requirements, quality care and satisfaction.
  • Provide nutrition education for patients; Work closely with Registered Dietitians for patient quality assurance.

2. Food Service

The food service industry is a vast industry comprising of restaurants, caterers, cafeterias operating in institutions and any other business offering a meal not prepared at home. Foodservice operators require necessary utensils for preparing food for the consumers, foodservice distributors are the people who take care of this need for them.

Here's how nutrition technicians use food service:
  • Maintain orders from the medical record into the food service software that don't interface.
  • School Nutrition Technician /cashier: Help with the supervision and implement of the food services.

3. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how nutrition technicians use patient care:
  • Performed basic clinical nutrition related patient care and support.
  • Recorded patient intake and output for nursing records and in order to provide patient care more effectively.

4. Food Handling

Here's how nutrition technicians use food handling:
  • Display proper food handling procedures to prevent allergy contamination.
  • Utilized safe food handling practices and quality service, maintained work station during service and completed all sanitation duties as assigned.

5. Breast Milk

Here's how nutrition technicians use breast milk:
  • Interact with families and occasionally educate them in the proper handling of infant formula and human breast milk.
  • Prepare infant fortified human breast milk and powder formulas for the NICU

6. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how nutrition technicians use customer service:
  • Provided customer service and knowledge to doctors and employees in concern of nutrient facility.
  • Coordinate and direct a work plan to improve customer service survey rating.

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7. Food Preferences

Here's how nutrition technicians use food preferences:
  • Modify menus based on food preferences, tolerances, and diet order and meal patterns.
  • Maintained diet office, diet ordered/changes, food preferences and menu tickets for meals.

8. Nutritional Risk

Here's how nutrition technicians use nutritional risk:
  • Assessed individual nutritional risk and status.
  • Provided dietary consultation and screened newly admitted patients/residents to identify those at nutritional risk.

9. Diet Orders

Diet Orders are the instructions given to a patient and/or the family and caretakers of a patient, by a medical and healthcare professional, in relation to said individual's dietary and generally food and drink-related needs. These might be given to a person for a number of reasons and can apply for a short, specific amount of time or can be life-long. Some surgeries, for example, require that all or some specific foods are not ingested a number of hours prior to the surgery, while some diseases, like diabetes, can affect a person's whole diet.

Here's how nutrition technicians use diet orders:
  • Retrieve patient diet orders and lab values from the computer for the purpose of nutritional screening.
  • Verify diet orders and consult with nurses, doctors, and dietitians when appropriate.

10. Nutrition Education

Here's how nutrition technicians use nutrition education:
  • Provide nutrition education and counseling on specifically determined diets per qualified Dietitian direction.
  • Conduct interactive nutrition education and breastfeeding classes.

11. Food Preparation

Here's how nutrition technicians use food preparation:
  • Performed food preparation duties such as preparing salads, hot/cold dishes, and other various meal preparations.
  • Maintained clean food preparation areas and dining areas.

12. Menu Selections

Here's how nutrition technicians use menu selections:
  • Report any pertinent information from patient contact to dietitian regarding food acceptance, preferences and menu selection.
  • Coordinated the distribution, collection and processing of menus, checking/monitoring diet restrictions and entering menu selections.

13. Data Entry

Data entry means entering data into a company's system with the help of a keyboard. A person responsible for entering data may also be asked to verify the authenticity of the data being entered. A person doing data entry must pay great attention to tiny details.

Here's how nutrition technicians use data entry:
  • Answered phone calls, computer data entry, fax, and copy machine.
  • Conduct Sensory Tests on Giant Eagle and Sample Products Analyze Nutrition Comparisons, Consumer/In-store Leader for Product Testing, Data Entry

14. Computer System

Here's how nutrition technicians use computer system:
  • Entered health data into WIC computer system and documents nutrition counseling provided to complete WIC certification process.
  • Maintain knowledge of the operation of the patient computer system, the modification of diets, and enteral formulas and formulations.

15. Nutrition Services

Nutritionists and dieticians' nutrition services refer to dietary instructions, counseling, and recommendations offered to patients to improve their health.

Here's how nutrition technicians use nutrition services:
  • Function as a resource person to the Nutrition Services Clerk and the Dietary Aides.
  • Enter miscellaneous patient charges and credits to ensure the Nutrition Services department receives reimbursement/payment for nutritional products provided.
top-skills

What skills help Nutrition Technicians find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on nutrition technician resumes?

Eric West

Assistant Professor, Dietetics Program, Arkansas State University

I believe that with any healthcare position, the ability to work professionally with others, respecting other professions, and understanding the roles and responsibilities of others is important. I also value leadership skills when reviewing resumes. Don't confuse this with management experience. Facilities need leaders of all kinds, not necessarily those that sit in the big office. Frontline associates need someone close by they can rely on to provide answers, feedback, and guidance. That skill will get you far in life.

What soft skills should all nutrition technicians possess?

Eric West

Assistant Professor, Dietetics Program, Arkansas State University

I believe that emotional intelligence is the greatest soft skill a person can learn and master. This will enable them to objectively gauge their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. They can gain the ability to mitigate conflicts and focus on creating equitable solutions. This soft skill can also assist in developing their ability to become a leader.

Another would be flexibility. Maintaining a rigid schedule can have benefits, but unfortunately, that's not how the world works. We have all seen this in the past 18 months, and flexibility has come into play almost daily. Workloads have to the shifted or reassigned completely. At the end of the day, anyone working in healthcare has the same goal; to provide optimal care for patients. Personally speaking, in the hospital setting, I would easily go from reviewing the end-of-the-month financial data to peeling potatoes, to visiting patients, to washing dishes. You need to be fluid and willing to jump in where needed.

What hard/technical skills are most important for nutrition technicians?

Eric West

Assistant Professor, Dietetics Program, Arkansas State University

Regarding hard skills, I like to see computer and technological skills. This is imperative today with the high reliability of electronic medical records and health informatics. A potential employee would need the necessary skills to navigate these programs and promptly complete proper charting.

Another hard skill I focus on is project management skills. When working in the hospital setting, I split my day into two parts; 80% completing daily responsibilities and 20% working on projects that would move the department forward. That 20% might be dedicated to developing tactics to improve patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, process improvement endeavors, etc.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about nutrition technician

List of nutrition technician skills to add to your resume

Nutrition technician skills

The most important skills for a nutrition technician resume and required skills for a nutrition technician to have include:

  • Patients
  • Food Service
  • Patient Care
  • Food Handling
  • Breast Milk
  • Customer Service
  • Food Preferences
  • Nutritional Risk
  • Diet Orders
  • Nutrition Education
  • Food Preparation
  • Menu Selections
  • Data Entry
  • Computer System
  • Nutrition Services
  • Tray Line
  • Food Safety
  • Food Carts
  • Allergies
  • Tube Feedings
  • RD
  • Compassion
  • Nutritional Care
  • Diet Restrictions
  • Patient Meals
  • Food Selection
  • Patient Food
  • Patient Menus
  • WIC
  • Kitchen Equipment
  • Food Trays
  • HACCP
  • Calorie Counts
  • Food Production
  • Therapeutic Diets
  • USDA
  • Patient Orders
  • Nutrition Classes
  • Patient Rooms
  • Food Orders
  • Menu Planning
  • Safety Standards
  • Epic
  • Meal Preparation
  • Diet Education
  • Groceries
  • Temperature Logs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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