Describe why nutrition counselors should document the counseling session and the ADIME format of charting and documentation.

Nutrition counselors should document the counseling session to track, monitor, and evaluate client progress. Documentation can also serve as a reminder of what the nutrition counselor and client discussed during the session. ADIME stands for assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and monitoring and evaluation. A nutrition counselor should document anthropometric, biochemical, client history, and dietary data under the assessment section. The nutrition problem, etiology, and signs and symptoms should be documented under the diagnosis section. The stage-tailored education (intervention) and nutrition prescription are documented under the intervention section. Finally, the signs, symptoms, and additional outcome measures are documented under the monitoring and evaluation section; in addition, the standard for the outcomes to be measured against should be transparent in this section.