Verified standards of professional practice for South African dietetics professionals: Part 2: The indicators

Abstract

Accountability is coming to be one of the most important trends in health care in the 21st century. Further resource constraints compel dietitians to find new strategies that allow doing more with less. Three keys to the success of an organisation and profession were identified, namely excellence, innovation, and anticipation. Excellence is at the base of the list because it is essential for survival in the 21st century, therefore requiring superior therapeutic/clinical nutrition quality, superb service, and innovation. Quality of health care, including nutritional care, could be considered as a ‘value’, and should be identified and ‘operationalised’ for measurement. This can be achieved through the measurement and evaluation of services according to professional standards. One of the key aspects in a Total Quality Management (TQM) culture is the establishment, maintenance and review of key quality standards.