chapter 17 – board of dietetics/nutrition

SECTION .0100 – LICENSURE

21 NCAC 17 .0101 DEFINITIONS, ACRONYMS, AND INITIALISMS

(a) As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall mean:

(1) "Act" means Dietetics/Nutrition Practice Act in Article 25 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes.

(2) "Applicant" means any person who has applied to the Board for a license to lawfully do any of the acts listed under G.S. 90-365(a).

(3) "Application" means a written request directed to and received by the Board, on forms supplied by the Board, for a license to lawfully do any of the acts listed under G.S. 90-365(a), together with all information, documents, and other materials necessary to demonstrate that the applicant has met the requirements for licensure as specified in the Act.

(4) "Degree" means a degree received from a college or university that was regionally accredited at the time the degree was conferred, or a validated foreign equivalent.

(5) "Dietitian/nutritionist" or "nutritionist" means one engaged in dietetics or nutrition practice.

(6) "Health care practitioner" includes any individual who is licensed under G.S. 90 and whose licensed scope of practice includes dietetics or nutrition.

(7) "Nutrition assessment" means:

(A) the initial and ongoing, dynamic, and systematic process of obtaining, verifying, and interpreting biochemical, anthropometric, physical, nutrigenomic, clinical, and dietary data to determine nutritional needs and order therapeutic diets, including enteral and parenteral nutrition;

(B) the ordering of laboratory tests related to the practice of nutrition and dietetics; and

(D) The collection of data does not, by itself, constitute nutrition assessment.

(8) "Nutrition counseling" means the advice and assistance provided to individuals or groups on nutrition intake by integrating information from the nutrition assessment with information on food and other sources of nutrient and meal preparation consistent with therapeutic needs and cultural background, which shall include ethnicity, race, language, religious and spiritual beliefs, education, and socioeconomic status.

(9) "Nutrition education" means a formal process to instruct or train a client, patient, or population group in a skill or to impart knowledge to help clients, patients, or population groups voluntarily manage or modify food, nutrition, and physical activity choices and behavior to maintain or improve health.

(10) "Nutrition intervention" means planned actions and nutrition counseling by a provider of nutrition care, intended to improve a nutrition-related behavior, risk factor, environmental condition, or aspect of the health status, consistent with therapeutic needs and cultural background.

(11) "Nutrition monitoring or evaluation" means regular re-evaluation of the nutrition care treatment and prevention plan, which may include review of clinical research and standards of care, to compare the outcomes with the patient's previous health status, intervention goals, or reference standards to determine the progress made in achieving desired outcomes of nutrition care and whether planned interventions should be continued or revised.

(12) "Nutrition services" for purposes of G.S. 90-357.5(c)(2) means the provision of nutrition assessments, nutrition intervention, education, counseling, or management, and nutrition monitoring or evaluation.

(13) "Swallow screen" means a minimally invasive evaluation procedure conducted by a licensed dietitian/nutritionist that provides for the determination of:

(A) the likelihood that dysphagia exists;

(B) whether the patient requires referral for further swallowing assessment;

(C) whether it is safe to feed the patient orally for the purposes of nutrition, hydration, and administration of medication; and

(D) whether the patient requires referral for nutritional or hydrational support.

(14) "Alternate supervised experiential learning" means observational hours that do not involve direct patient or client care or the discussion thereof. Such hours are limited to: observing videos of client and practitioner interactions; shadowing an experienced clinician; participating in simulation exercises or role playing; or utilizing case studies to prepare treatment plans.

(15) "Direct supervised experiential learning" means nutrition care services provided for the benefit of patients or clients. Such hours are limited to: counseling individuals and groups; researching and developing patient or client treatment plans for current patients or clients; researching, preparing, and presenting patient or client workshops; community education involving development and delivery of education to a specific population; supervisor grand rounds and one-on-one meetings with one's supervisor to discuss current patient or client care; or direct hours approved as part of a programmatically accredited supervised practice program.

(16) "Therapeutic diet" means a nutrition intervention prescribed by a physician or other authorized non-physician practitioner that provides food, fluid, or nutrients via oral, enteral, or parenteral routes as part of treatment of disease or clinical conditions to modify, eliminate, decrease, or increase identified micronutrients and macronutrients in the diet, or to provide mechanically altered food when indicated.

(17) "Weight control services" as used in G.S. 90-368(7) means a general program of instruction with food, supplements, food products, or a food plan designed for one or more healthy population groups in order to achieve or maintain a healthy weight. A weight control program is not individualized to provide medical nutrition therapy as defined in G.S. 90-352(3a) or nutrition care services as defined in G.S. 90-352(4) to manage or treat a medical condition for a specific person or group.

(b) As used in this Chapter, the following acronyms and initialisms shall mean:

(1) "ACBN" means the American Clinical Board of Nutrition, whose Diplomate of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition credential is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

(2) "ACEND" means the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics.

(3) "AND" means the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

(4) "BCNS" means the Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists, whose Certified Nutrition Specialist credential is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

(5) "CDR" means the Commission on Dietetic Registration, whose Registered Dietitian Nutritionist credential is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

(6) "LDN" means licensed dietitian/nutritionist.

(7) "LN" means licensed nutritionist.

(8) "PLDN" means provisionally licensed dietitian/nutritionist.

(9) "PLN" means provisionally licensed nutritionist.

History Note: Authority G.S. 90-352; 90-356;

Temporary Adoption Eff. March 19, 1992 for a period of 180 days to expire on September 13, 1992;

Eff. June 1, 1992;

Recodified from 21 NCAC 17 .0001 Eff. February 1, 1995;

Amended Eff. December 1, 2011; April 1, 2010; July 18, 2002; March 1, 1996;

Readopted Eff. December 1, 2019;

Amended Eff. March 15, 2023.