Jennie Merritt, M.S., R.D.N., L.D., D.P.P.L.C

I attribute much of my success to the extraordinary nurses and direct-care professionals I have had the privilege of working alongside throughout my career. Long-term care is truly interdisciplinary, and some of my greatest teachers have been nurses who took the time to help me understand not only what they do, but what they see at the bedside every day. Understanding their perspective has made me a better dietitian.

Nutrition is grounded in science, but caring for people is much more than applying science. Working alongside nurses and other direct-care professionals has taught me to look beyond lab values, weights, and diagnoses and see the whole person—their routines, preferences, challenges, and quality of life.

I also believe I found a profession that happens to fit the way I think. Dietetics gives me the combination of science, problem-solving, and human connection that I was looking for long before I knew what to call it. Nearly 30 years later, I still find working with older adults, their families, and the professionals who care for them deeply rewarding.

The best career advice I’ve received is simple: do what you love. It took me a while to figure out what that was. I changed majors several times before taking my first nutrition class and realizing I had found something that genuinely clicked for me.

Over the years, I’ve learned that loving your work doesn’t mean every day is easy. It means being interested enough to keep learning, curious enough to keep growing, and connected enough to the people you serve that the work continues to matter. Nearly 30 years later, I still love what I do—and I think that has made all the difference.

Learn your profession well, but don’t limit yourself to learning only your own role. Some of the most valuable things I’ve learned in long-term care have come from nurses, nursing assistants, food service staff, therapists, administrators, residents, and families. Understanding what other people do—and respecting the expertise they bring—will make you much better at what you do.

I would also tell young women to become comfortable trusting their professional judgment. Ask questions, seek out people you can learn from, and never be afraid to say when you don’t know something. But as your knowledge and experience grow, have confidence in what you bring to the table.

Long-term care needs people who are curious, collaborative, and willing to keep learning. If you can do that while remembering that there is a person and a family behind every chart, you can make a real difference.

One of the biggest challenges in long-term care today is complexity. Residents are entering facilities with increasingly complex medical and cognitive needs, while the professionals caring for them are managing staffing pressures, regulatory requirements, documentation demands, and limited time. At the same time, families are often being asked to make important decisions about long-term care when they are already overwhelmed.

I believe that challenge also creates an opportunity. We have access to more information than ever before, but having more information does not necessarily lead to a better understanding. Families and professionals need information that is clear, practical, and available at the moment they need it.

There is also a tremendous opportunity for better communication between families and the professionals providing care. When families understand what questions to ask, what information matters, and what they can realistically expect, they are better equipped to participate in decisions about their loved one’s care.

Some of our greatest opportunities will come not from adding more complexity, but from making an already complicated system easier for people to understand and navigate.

Respect, integrity, dignity, and curiosity are at the center of both my work and my personal life. I believe every person has something to teach us, regardless of their title, education, age, or circumstances.

At this point in my career, I often learn more from professionals in other disciplines than I do from my own. Nurses, nursing assistants, therapists, social workers, food service professionals, and others have helped me understand long-term care far beyond the boundaries of nutrition. That knowledge has made me a better dietitian and a better advocate for the people we serve.

And what I continue to learn from residents and their families never ceases to amaze me. Despite decades in long-term care, they still challenge my assumptions, change my perspective, and remind me that no amount of professional experience replaces listening to the person in front of you.

To me, respect means remaining willing to listen and learn, no matter how much experience you have.