BABE #370: SHANNON WILKINSON - Clinical Dietitian, Largo Medican Center
What we eat plays a big role in how we feel, and today’s babe works hard to ensure her patients feel as healthy as possible. Shannon is a clinical dietitian at Largo Medical Center, where her role is vital to her patients’ wellness. In addition to her usual responsibilities, her days are filled with lots of learning about COVID-19 and how it affects individuals, so she can properly adjust care for those affected. She’s resilient, committed and braving the frontlines to help those who need it most.
The Basics:
Hometown: Longwood, Florida
Current city: St. Petersburg, Florida
Alma mater: UNF; USF
Degree: B.S., Nutrition and Dietetics; Master’s in Public Health, Nutrition and Dietetics
Very first job: Lifeguard
Hustle: Clinical Dietitian, Largo Medical Center; Virtual Assistant + Nutrition Coach, Make Healthy Easy
The Interests:
Babe you admire and why?
I look up to the strong woman who raised me, guided me, and grew with me. They all helped me to become the “babe” I am today in my career and personal life. These women include my mother, grandmother, teachers, mothers of close friends, and my friends who inspired me as they followed their own dreams.
What’s your favorite meal and/or recipe to make?
This is a hard question to answer, especially as a dietitian who talks about food day in and out. However, at the end of the day I will always enjoy any meal that is cooked at home, either alone for myself or with friends and family. A home-cooked meal is my favorite meal.
What’s something most don’t know about you?
Most do not know that I lived overseas in highschool on a small island in the Pacific called Kwajalein. I think it has made me who I am today. I got to continue to grow up in a time without smart phones or Wifi. I stayed back in the times of dial-up internet, riding bikes everywhere, and simply enjoying true friendships without modern distractions.
Favorite way to unplug?
Though I love cooking and baking as an escape, exercise is truly my favorite way to unplug and escape from reality. Not only is physical activity a great way to feel better physically, it has such a positive impact on my mental health.
The Hustle:
Tell us about your hustle.
As a registered dietitian at an inpatient hospital, my day consists of seeing patients who need assistance nutritionally. This ranges from speaking with malnourished patients about ways to improve their medical status, educating patients on foods to eat more or less of depending on their diagnosis(es), to calculating tube feeds for intubated patient in the critical care units and discussing with other professions of the medical team on how to provide proper nutrition to complex patients. Though each day I come in and make a list of who I need to see, no day is the same because no patient is the same; each individual requires specific nutrition recommendations and a personalized plan to reach their goals.
Have you always been passionate about nutrition?
My parents are both in the medical field and I grew up loving science, so I knew I wanted to do something with medical sciences. It wasn’t until college that I realized my passion for personally speaking with people and helping them, that I knew I did not want to simply be in a lab. I changed my major Christmas day of 2014 to nutrition and dietetics without even knowing what a dietitian was. From that day forward, I have been passionate about nutrition and public health and what I can do to help people nutritionally and with their overall wellness.
How has your job changed because of COVID-19?
Registered dietitians are on the frontline in the medical field for this pandemic. My daily role has not changed much, however my patient population has. In the medical field, we were suddenly forced to learn a lot about a new virus and how it affects individuals. During this time I have watched many presentations, read research articles, and stayed connected with other dietitians around the globe on the latest nutritional updates with COVID-19 patients. I became the nutrition expert for this population in my hospital so I can best—for lack of better word—feed these patients. I speak with my doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and more to ensure patients are getting the nutrition they need, how much of it, and when. My role is especially important in those COVID-19 patients who are supported by mechanical ventilators in the intensive care unit. These patients cannot eat food by mouth, therefore much of my job consists of calculating their nutritional requirements and providing them tube-feeding to best meet their needs while considering other comorbidities such as diabetes, kidney failure, sepsis, gastrointestinal complications, and more. I then follow up with patients to monitor for tolerance of tube feeds or monitor how well they are eating and continue to make adjustments to provide each individual patient with the quality nutrition they need to medically improve.
What are some of the COVID-19 related decisions that you’ve had to make recently in your job?
One decision I had to make is if I was willing to enter my critical care unit which is requiring everyone to wear an N-95 mask to enter. Though an easy decision for me was yes, because this means I am putting less work on my nurses by asking them questions about the patients daily that I could instead see myself. It also means I provide better quality care to each patient because I can personally check on them daily. (But this did mean I am increasing my risk of exposure to the virus.)
Do you think your job will be different after COVID-19?
I do not imagine my day to day work changing too much in the hospital after COVID however I do imagine public health in the United States changing drastically. I have my master’s in public health and I do hope more emphasis and finances is put towards preventative health care after this pandemic.
What are some ways readers can support your industry right now?
The best way to support the medical (and nutrition) field is to listen to medical professionals. Don’t believe everything you hear on the news or read on social media unless it’s from credible medical sources. The best thing you can do to support my industry is to focus on overall health and wellness, make realistic health goals, stay away from crazy fad diets, and wash your hands!
What’s been your biggest career milestone to date?
My biggest career milestone was the day I passed my medical boards and became a registered dietitian. I achieved my career dream and now I get to wake up and go to a job I love every day.
How has being a woman affected your professional experience?
I would say my field is predominantly female. As an industry, I believe registered dietitians should be paid more and have more autonomy and respect in the medical field as the nutrition expert. I would like to think it’s not because of my gender, but that registered dietitians are slowly being seen as more important by the medical field and general population.
What’s one thing you wish the general public knew with regards to the pandemic?
I hope the general public focuses more on preventative health care. I hope people understand that by using proper hygiene they can help prevent the spread of this virus. I hope they understand that they can personally support their own immune system by staying physically active, sleeping well, and consuming a balanced diet full of a variety of foods.
Career and/or life advice for other babes?
I am a strong believer in things working out the way they are meant to. For example: I worked very hard and applied for six dietetic internships after undergrad and did not get accepted to any which meant I had to wait six months before reapplying for an internship that I needed to be able to sit for my medical boards. At a low point, I got contacted by the University of South Florida (USF) for graduate school with a dietetic internship, interviewed, and got a spot. I would not be where I am if I got accepted to another internship or did not get a call from USF. Things work out in the end. My advice is to keep working hard, but know that sometimes one door closes because a better one is going to open.
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