Rewriting a medical assistant job description for vocational nursing roles

¶ … Job Description Locate a job description a popular website job seekers. (Medical assistant license vocational nurse) Analyze job posting selected. Consider criteria: • How determine create a job position business? • What strategy outline position's details? • What duties ? • What performance requirements position ? • What preexisting knowledge skills required position? Rewrite job posting chosen.

Option 3: Rewriting a job description

Take Care Health Systems at Walgreens Health and Wellness division is currently in search of a medical assistant. Its job advertisement begins with a lengthy introduction to the company and the services it provides: "We operate on-site employee health centers, pharmacies and fitness centers for many of the country's largest corporations and federal agencies." Then Take Care provides a description of the position it needs to fill (a PRN Medical Assistant), the hours required to work and the candidate's responsibilities.

These responsibilities include the need to "provide prescribed medical treatment and personal care services to [the] ill or injured client employees as directed by a physician, advanced practitioner, or registered nurse;" interviewing and taking the vital signs of patients; and administering medication. There are also general supportive functions such as assisting "with patient examination as needed" and "maintaining medical equipment, keeping exam rooms properly supplied and ready for patients." The assistant must also "interact with patients and other physician offices to assist with follow up, appointments, questions, etc."

Given that a new job position should only be advertised when there is a clear 'need,' job advertisements must be specific so the candidate is clear about the needs at the organization and whether he or she can fill them. The medical advertisement description of responsibilities is fairly comprehensive even though it is somewhat broad and nonspecific in terms of all of the duties expected of the candidate. The list is also in no particular order in terms of the most important to least important duties, and the descriptions are rather verbose. However, given that the duties may change over time or vary with patients, the author of the advertisement did not want to be or could not be too specific about every single duty the medical assistant was expected to perform.

The job description also lists the positive intangible benefits to make the position seem attractive: "While working at this large employer site, you will have the ability to get to know your patients, while helping to improve their health status and taking care of their immediate health needs," as well as notes that it offers competitive wages and benefit options. However, these benefits are not fully 'fleshed out.' What does comprehensive mean? Full medical, dental, and vision care benefits? A 401K?

The advertisement also contains the blurb: "Take Care Health Systems is proud to be an equal opportunity employer of nice people! M/F/D/V." While being a 'people person' is obviously a necessary attribute of working at a clinic, this suggests a rather flippant attitude to the serious issue of being EEOC-compliant in its hiring practices, and could even give the impression that it was not. What M/F/D/V stands for is also not defined, further causing confusion.

The end of the advertisement lists the academic requirements of the position, namely that the candidate must be a " graduate of accredited program, Associate's degree and/or equivalent from two-year college or technical school;" that certification as a medical assistant preferred but not required, and that the candidate must be currently certified in CPR by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross and have "one year experience working in a medical office setting, ambulatory care, occupational health or emergency department." It would generally be preferably to include these requirements at the beginning, rather than the end of the advertisement, given that if the reader did not have the necessary qualifications, reading further would be unnecessary.

Rewritten job description

Take Care Health System is currently seeking a PRN medical assistant (certification preferred, Associates' Degree or equivalent required) with at least one year of experience working in a healthcare facility at its Atlantic City location. Take Care is a leading operator of on-site wellness and health centers, pharmacies and fitness centers for many of the country's largest corporations and federal agencies. The facility is open Monday/Tuesday 8a-5p; Wednesday 8a-4p; Thursday 8a-6p; Friday 8a-12p and the candidate must be available to work during those hours.