Scope of Practice

Under N.G.G.S. § 90-365(1a) a license is required to provide medical nutrition therapy.  Per N.C.G.S. § 90-352(3a) medical nutrition therapy is defined as the provision of nutrition care services for the purpose of managing or treating a medical condition.

Nutrition care services, which provides the scope of practice for licensees, is defined in N.C.G.S. § 90-352(4) as any part or all of the following:

• Assessing and evaluating the nutritional needs of individuals and groups, and determining resources and constraints in the practice setting, including ordering laboratory tests related to the practice of nutrition and dietetics.
• Establishing priorities, goals, and objectives that meet nutritional needs and are consistent with available resources and constraints.
• Providing nutrition counseling in health and disease.
• Developing, implementing, and managing nutrition care systems.
• Evaluating, making changes in, and maintaining appropriate standards of quality in food and nutrition services.
• Ordering therapeutic diets.

The term does not include the retail sale of food products or vitamins.

With the above stated, in regards to enteral and parenteral nutrition therapy, under N.C.G.S. § 90-365.6, the following is provided:

(a)        Enteral and parenteral nutrition therapy shall consist of enteral feedings or specialized intravenous solutions and shall only be ordered by an individual licensed under this Article who meets one of the following criteria:

(b)        Nothing in this Article shall be construed to limit the ability of any other licensed health care practitioner in this State to order therapeutic diets, so long as the ordering of therapeutic diets falls within the scope of the license held by the health care practitioner.