According to a report by Trust for
America’s Health in 2020, obesity is a serious problem in Nevada. As of 2019, 30.6 percent of adults in Nevada were obese, up four percent from 2018. Obesity in high school students in the state decreased by 12 percent in 2019, but the rate of overweight high school students increased by 17 percent from 2017.
The report notes a link between obesity and food insecurity in Nevada. Nevada ranks eighth nationally in rates of projected food insecurity as of 2020. Registered and licensed dietitians in Nevada can work with Nevadans of all ages to help them to make better food choices and inform them of agencies that can help to link them with food sources. If you would like to learn how to become a registered dietitian in Nevada, read on.
Authorized Services that Licensed, Registered Dietitians May Provide in Nevada
Nevada’s fairly new licensing law for dietitians clearly states that licensed dietitians may not provide medical diagnoses of health for people. They are permitted to provide nutritional services to help a person achieve and maintain proper nourishment and care of their body, including but not limited to:
- Assessing a person’s nutritional needs, determining resources for and constraints in meeting those needs through obtaining, verifying and interpreting data
- Determining a person’s metabolism of a person and identifying food, nutrients and supplements they need for growth, development, maintenance or to attain proper nourishment
- Considering a person’s cultural background and socioeconomic needs in achieving or maintaining proper nourishment
- Identifying and labeling a person’s nutritional problems
- Recommending the appropriate method of obtaining proper nourishment for a person, including orally, intravenously or through a feeding tube
- Counseling, advising and assisting a person’s nutritional intake, with respect to health and disease
- Establishing priorities, goals and objectives to meet a person’s nutritional needs, consistent with their resources, including instructing them on meal preparation
- Treating a person’s nutritional problems of and identifying patient outcomes to determine the person’s progress
- Planning activities to change a person’s, group of persons, or the community at large’s behavior, risk factors, environmental conditions or other aspects of their health and nutrition
- Developing, implementing and managing systems in providing nutrition care
- Evaluating and maintaining appropriate standards of quality
- Accepting and transmitting verbal and electronic orders from a patient’s physician to meet their nutritional needs
- Ordering a special diet or nutritional supplements, including medical nutrition therapy, to address a person’s nutritional needs
- Ordering medical laboratory tests relating to the therapeutic treatment concerning a person’s nutritional needs when authorized to do so by a written protocol from a physician.
- Using medical nutrition therapy to manage, treat or rehabilitate a person’s disease, illness, injury or medical condition of a patient, including, but not limited to:
- Interpreting data and making recommendations or issuing orders concerning a person’s nutritional needs through methods such as diet, feeding tube, intravenous solutions or specialized oral feedings
- Determining the interaction between food and drugs prescribed to the person
- Developing and managing operations to provide food, care and treatment programs that monitor or alter the food and nutrient levels of the person
Education for Registered Dietitians in Nevada
Nevada has only required its registered dietitians to be licensed since 2012. The state follows the regulations of the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) in its licensing requirements. They state that, in order to become a registered dietitian, you must have at least a bachelor’s degree from a program that has received accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). (link to Registered Dietitian Schools list – Nevada section) Although some of the ACEND-accredited programs available nationwide are still bachelor’s degree programs, as of January 1, 2024, the CDR will require all registered dietitians to have a master’s degree. Programs found in Nevada are in these formats:
Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD)– There are two DPDs in Nevada as of September 2022. These programs offer didactic coursework, without fulfilling the necessary experience portion of the requirement.
Dietetic Internship (DI) – Three DIs are in Nevada as of September 2022. These programs offer supervised dietetic experience totaling at least 1000 hours.
Exam for Registered Dietitians in Nevada
Once you have completed your educational program in dietetics, as well as the experience portion of the requirement, you will be ready to apply to take the CDR’s Registration Examination for Dietitians. The Registration Examination for Dietitians Handbook for Candidates offers the most up-to-date information on applying for, sitting for, and passing the exam.
You will register online to take the exam, paying a fee of $200. Pearson VUE handles the registration as well as the administration of the exam. Testing centers in Nevada may be found in Reno and Las Vegas, but you may also take them in centers in nearby California and Utah.
You will be given your score when you complete the exam. Should you pass, you will receive your CDR registration card through the mail in a few weeks. This will be your definitive evidence that you are a Registered Dietitian.
Licensing of Registered Dietitians in Nevada
Now that you are a Registered Dietitian in Nevada, you must apply to become a Licensed Dietitian before you are allowed to lawfully work there. The application process is handled completely online and may be found here. The initial licensing fee of $100 must be paid online at the time of application. Allow up to 30 days for your application to be processed. Once you have received your license, it is valid for two years from the date of its issuance.
For questions regarding the licensure process, contact the Dietitian Licensing Unit at (775) 684-1030 or [email protected].
Salaries of Registered, Licensed Dietitians in Nevada
Nevada’s 460 dietitians and nutritionists earn an annual median wage of $61,310, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (May 2021). The majority of the state’s dietitians and nutritionists work in the Las Vegas/Henderson/Paradise area, making an annual median wage of $61,930; followed by the Reno area, where they earn $60,770 per year; and the Nevada nonmetropolitan area, where the annual median wage is $37,650.
Job Opportunities for Registered, Licensed Dietitians in Nevada
Sometimes a better way to gauge the average pay of dietitians in a state is to look at the job opportunities available there. As of September 2022, the following job opportunities were posted for registered, licensed dietitians in Nevada:
- Diabetes Educator – Shoshone Paiute Tribes, Owyhee
- Salary: $80,427 to $84,427 per year
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Registered and licensed dietitian credentials preferred
- Two years of experience preferred
- Diabetes Educator certification preferred
- Basic Life Support certification preferred
- Director of Hospitality – Renown Health, Reno
- Salary: $70,500 to $89,300 per year
- Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred
- Registered and licensed dietitian credentials preferred
- Three to five years of experience in healthcare operations or hospital food service department required
- Registered Clinical Dietitian – PAM Health, Las Vegas
- Salary: $68,700 to $87,100 per year
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Registered and licensed dietitian credentials required
- Three years of clinical dietitian experience required
- Registered Dietitian – Nevada Home Health Providers, Las Vegas
- Salary: $64,400 to $81,600 per year
- Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred
- Registered and licensed dietitian credentials required
- Driver’s license required
- CPR certification required
- Registered Dietician – Nutrition That Works, Las Vegas
- Salary: $66,500 to $84,300 per year
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Registered and licensed dietitian credentials required