Maddie Polkinghorn - Region 4

​Hi! My name is Maddie Polkinghorn, and I am a Region 4 Sodexo dietetic intern and URI student in Harrisburg, PA. I started my internship in patient services where I gained knowledge in patient satisfaction. In this rotation, I was able to meet with the Director of Patient Satisfaction to gain an overall view of how important this is in a hospital setting.  Now I am currently finishing up my clinical rotations. I have 3 days left of staff relief!  
 
I can’t believe I have completed almost 448 hours of clinical experience! During this experience, I have grown in so many ways. At the beginning of my rotation, I was very nervous and struggling with time management and my clinical judgment. I was overwhelmed with the number of patients I needed to see throughout the day. However, now I can see around 10 patients a day with a variety of med-surg and ICU patients. I also feel very comfortable in my knowledge of nutrition support.
 
Throughout my clinical rotation, I was also able to participate in outpatient nutrition education in cardiovascular and pulmonary health. This was a great opportunity to increase my knowledge of these diseases and improve on my motivational interviewing skills. Thanks to my amazing preceptors and intern directors, I feel very confident finishing up my clinical rotation and I am looking forward to my long term care rotation leading into foodservice. I can’t wait until I can finally say I am an RDN! 

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