Long term care facilities: the benefits of having a dietitian.

This article describes the improvements made by a dietitian in two long term care facilities. Neither facility had previously employed a dietitian. Nutritional status of residents was improved by menu revisions that included more dairy products. Accurate serving of calculated diets was instigated. Administrative tools such as policy and procedure manuals and standardized recipes were introduced. It is to be hoped that the positive experiences of these long term care facilities in employing dietitians will encourage other facilities to follow suit.