Each quarter, NDDA selects a Member to spotlight, based on their exciting career development. Read these profiles to see what opportunities are available. Or make your own path!

Spotlight On:

Laura Alsup, RD, LDN

Bachelors Degree: Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences from Lipscomb University
Additional degrees / certifications: RD, LDN
Internship: University of Tennessee at Martin
Area of interest: Oncology

Current position: I currently work as an inpatient clinical dietitian. I cover the Surgical and Medical/Oncology Units and I am also responsible for educating Cardiac Rehab patients on an outpatient basis. I enjoy the chance to be involved in the care of a variety of patients, including those with various forms of cancer, infectious diseases, bowel resections, renal disease, heart disease and
diabetes.

# of years in dietetic practice: 3 years

How has your career evolved as a dietitian? I started at Summit Medical Center a little over 3 years ago and knew that I was being hired mainly to cover the position of the “clinical dietitian” and I also knew that I would be expected to work for some of the other RDs in other areas when needed. Little did I know that I would begin learning how to educate diabetic patients, one-on-one and in a class setting, and would also start learning the skills of nutrition support and how to best care for those patients. It has been very rewarding and I feel as though it has really helped me to broaden my knowledge in many different ways that otherwise I may not have ever had a chance to learn.

What is the most important skill set you use in your position? Empathy, communication and flexibility...caring for many different patients on a daily basis have helped me to expand upon these skills. When working with a diverse set of patients and only having a few hours in the day to see them all, it is easy to get wrapped up in “just getting the job done”. I have to remember that these are people that are usually scared, worried and sometimes lonely and on occasions all they need is for someone to listen to them, even if it is only to hear about their families and their lives.

What do you enjoy most about being a dietitian? I like knowing that each morning when I go to work that I will have a new set of patients that are all completely different, nutritionally and medically. I also appreciate the opportunity that I have had over the past 3 years to be involved in caring for and teaching patients about various disease states and how nutrition plays a role in those. I really enjoy being a dietitian because there are so many opportunities out there for us to use our skills in diverse settings and that is very exciting to me!

Of all the client/patient encounters that you've had, which one was the most challenging and rewarding? This is a hard question! I see a lot of interesting cases, but in particular I remember following a young man, I think he was only about 16 years old, whose English was not very understandable, and had a form of lymphoma. He had moved here not too long before his hospitalization from another country and had few family members that would come and sit with him. He was eating very poorly,
so we started a calorie count. He didn’t like a lot of the foods that we offered here at the hospital (surprising, I know), so his grandmother would bring him food from home that she had cooked. He would try to explain to me what some of the dishes were and I would have to write down on the calorie count sheets, but I was never able to spell them correctly. He had a difficult time
understanding me…one main reason was that I had to wear a mask while in the room, and I had just as hard of a time understanding him trying to explain the foods, and their ingredients, to me. I don’t remember, specifically, any of the foods, but I know that he ate a lot of duck and cabbage that was a soupy-type consistency. Let’s just say that to this day I’m not sure if I was able to accurately calculate his calorie needs! He was such a sweet young man and even though we didn’t talk a lot I felt as though he was comfortable with me and knew that I would be there each day to check on him.

Outside of work, how do you like to spend your time? I enjoy working in the yard and working on projects around my house, which was built in 1955, so there is always something to do! I also like shopping, esp. online, E-bay can be dangerous for me, traveling, watching Grey’s Anatomy, being with friends.