This session will explore preliminary results of a dietitian led peri-operative nutrition clinic. The clinic is a quality improvement initiative funded by a QEII TRIC grant (Translating Research into Care). It includes all elective general surgery patients planned for admission post-operatively at the Colchester East Hants Health Centre, in Truro, Nova Scotia. We will discuss rates of patients who screen at risk of malnutrition using the Canadian Nutrition Screening Tool (CNST), compared to rates of patients with protein inadequacy, and illustrate through our findings, the importance of optimizing ALL patients nutritionally before surgery. This discussion of nutritional optimization will also include a focus on the importance of correcting iron deficiency pre-operatively. We will then explore both qualitative data outcomes, with patient and multidisciplinary team feedback on the integration of a dietitian into the pre-operative surgical team, as well as quantitative data surrounding changes in surgical outcomes, such as length of stay, rates of re-admission, morbidity and mortality post operatively, post implementation of the dietitian-led peri-operative clinic.
Nutrition and Food Services
Nova Scotia Health
Tina Strickland is the Director of Policy and Planning for Nutrition and Food Services at Nova Scotia Health. She leads system‑wide clinical innovation to advance equitable, high‑quality nutrition care across the province. Tina’s work focuses on transforming malnutrition prevention, detection, and treatment through evidence‑informed research, advancing clinical practice excellence, and digital innovation, while also strengthening clinical standards and technology‑enabled service delivery. With more than 20 years of experience across pediatric and adult care settings, Tina is recognized for her systems thinking, collaborative leadership, and unwavering commitment to improving health outcomes for Nova Scotians.