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Training for healthcare professionals and associates to acquire specialised skills in clinical nutrition

Program Leader: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nada Rotovnik Kozjek

Project Overview
The Department of Clinical Nutrition at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana (IOL) has successfully implemented several key projects within the framework of the Action Activities of the Resolution on the National Health Care Plan 2015–2025, co-financed by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia. 

Between 2017 and 2019, the department carried out a pilot implementation of the Clinical Pathway for Nutritional Support of Hospitalized Patients at OIL, designed to prevent, identify early, and treat nutritional disorders. 
The successful implementation of this pathway was the foundation for the subsequent project, also co-financed by the Ministry of Health, entitled “Training and Education of Healthcare Professionals for the Implementation of the Clinical Pathway for Nutritional Support at the Tertiary and Secondary Levels of Health Care” (2020–2022). Within this project, our team served as mentors for the establishment of clinical nutrition practices at Novo Mesto General Hospital, the Hematology-Oncology Department of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, and in other Slovenian hospitals. 

Building upon these achievements, the ongoing program “Training for Healthcare Professionals and Associates to Acquire Specialized Knowledge in Clinical Nutrition” (2023–2025) enables physicians, nurses, and dietitians employed in healthcare institutions across all levels of the Slovenian healthcare system to undertake supervised clinical training at the Department of Clinical Nutrition, IOL.

This is a nationally significant initiative, as it represents the only program in Slovenia that provides healthcare professionals with the opportunity to gain specialized clinical expertise in the field of clinical nutrition, in alignment with the international proffesional standards and also standards set by the Slovenian Medical Association and the Chamber of Nursing and Midwifery of Slovenia.

Program Objectives and Content
The program provides healthcare professionals and associates with both specialized knowledge and hands-on clinical experience in clinical nutrition. During the training, participants become familiar with the following areas:

  • The clinical pathway for nutritional management of hospitalized patients;
  • The role of the nutrition team in the care of nutritionally at-risk and malnourished patients;
  • Comprehensive treatment of patients with intestinal failure;
  • The process of nutritional management for patients with cancer and other chronic non-communicable diseases;
  • The treatment of nutritional disorders, with emphasis on malnutrition;
  • The planning and prescription of nutritional therapy for acute and chronic disease management through clinical nutrition interventions;
  • The supervison and adjustments of clinical nutrition therapy according to personalized needs of each patient;
  • Documentation and record-keeping in the nutritional care process.