What You Need to Know About Medical Assistant Job Description

medical assistant job description

medical assistant job description

Based on the prevailing trends, the healthcare industry will need more allied healthcare professionals in the coming years, including medical assistants. In fact, most doctors cannot function efficiently without support from a good medical assistant. The assistant is considered an important part of the doctor's healthcare team. 

If you are thinking about taking up this profession, you should know be aware of the responsibilities this job entails. Checking out medical assistant job description will give you a fair idea and will also help you determine whether this profession is what you are looking for.

 

 

Medical Assistant Job Description

Typically, medical assistants are categorized as administrative medical assistants, clerical medical assistants and clinical medical assistants. Administrative and clerical medical assistants have similar responsibilities.

When you check the administrative and clerical medical assistant job description, you will realize that the person needs to have some amount of medical knowledge, be organized and also have business skills to handle the following responsibilities:

Arranging appointments
Greeting patients and visitors
Filling and submitting insurance forms
Handling mail
Typing patient's chart
Filing
Record keeping
Collecting payments
Making payments

On the other hand, a clinical medical assistant has clinical and/or back office responsibilities. A clinical medical assistant job description can be as follows:

Assisting the doctor while he conducts a physical examination
Maintaining the treatment room
Sterilizing medical instruments using an autoclave
Checking the patient's vital signs
Changing dressings
Doing phlebotomy
Conducting ECG
Undertaking certain laboratory-related procedures
Taking X-ray, if the state laws permit

Usually medical assistants like a mix of clinical and administrative responsibilities. However, there are some that like to specialize in of the two types of categories.

Job Outlook

As you can see from the job description, medical assistants are important allied healthcare professionals. Hence, there is a great demand for certified assistants. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, by the year 2020, this occupation will see a growth of 31 percent. Based on this, it can be said that the job outlook for medical assistants is very bright.

Work Environment

If you are interested in becoming a medical assistant, you will be able to work in different kinds of settings. You can work in a hospital, doctor's office, clinic and nursing home. Usually based on the medical assistant job description, you will be working for about 40 hours a week, from Mondays through Fridays. However, you get a medical assistant's job in a hospital or the emergency room, you will be working in shifts and this could mean working even during the weekends and on holidays.

How to Become a Medical Assistant

To become a medical assistant, you will need a high school diploma and relevant training. There are many community and vocational colleges that offer medical assistant degree programs. You can join these colleges to get a 2-year associate degree. 

There are even certified programs that are accredited and allow people to become licensed medical assistants in a year. However, before enrolling for a program, understand medical assistant job description thoroughly, as this is a job full of responsibilities and can at times be demanding.

Get to Know What are the Prerequisites for Nursing

What are the Prerequisites for Nursing

If nursing is a career you are interested in, you should first find out what are the prerequisites for nursing. Your preparation for this noble career will begin while you are still in high school. This will allow you to complete many of the required courses that you will need while entering a nursing program, and this will save you money and time.

 

About Nursing

Nurses are medical professionals and they not only help doctors and surgeons, they are also responsible for the well-being of the patients. This specialized field requires formal training, which is imparted by nursing schools and colleges. After completing nursing training, the person can find a position in any healthcare institute or hospital based on their education level, specialization and experience. Yes, even nurses can specialize in different medical fields.

What are the Prerequisites for Nursing?

Prerequisites for nursing differ from one nursing school to the next. Hence, if you are interested in joining a particular nursing school, you should check with the admissions to find out what are the prerequisites for nursing.

Here are some of the most common prerequisites for nursing that most schools will ask for at the time of application.

High School Diploma: Make sure you complete your high school diploma if you are serious about taking up nursing as a profession. If you do not have a high school diploma, you can also get a GED.

Math: Math is an important prerequisite for nursing and most nursing colleges want their students to have some ability in and knowledge of math. Depending on the nursing school, you may either need to successfully complete a math proficiency test or a college algebra class.

Biology: Biology is a must for nursing and no school will accept you without you having taken a biology course. If your high school offers anatomy and physiology, take these courses, as you may require them at the time of applying for the nursing program.

Chemistry: Many nursing program require chemistry, as it forms the basis of medication and can be useful for nurses to know. If you know how changes in the chemical balance can affect the body, it may suffice.

Psychology: Majority of nursing programs require psychology. You can take general psychology in your high school, but after finishing school, you may have to take a more advanced course in psychology. However, with general psychology under your belt, you will be able to apply for a nursing program.

English: Composition courses are a must for all nursing programs. Hence, getting good grades in English during your high school will prove to be beneficial.

Volunteer Work: The competition to get into a nursing program is extremely fierce. Hence, you will need an edge over other students if you want your application to be accepted by a nursing school. You can get this edge by volunteering in a nursing home or hospital. This will show that you have some experience in nursing and are quite devoted to helping people. It will increase the chance of you entering the nursing program.

Final Words

If you want to know what are the prerequisites for nursing, find out exactly what they by contacting the nursing school you want to join. This will give you a better idea about the prerequisites that school has and you can concentrate just on them. Nursing programs tend to be pretty work intensive and finishing any required course before will go a long way in making your life easy during the program.

All About Nursing Assistant Job Description

Nursing Assistant Job Description

Deciding to become a certified nursing assistant may be the best career move you will ever have if you simply cannot decide whether working as a registered nurse or another member of the medical team. Aside from only months to 2 years to complete, becoming a nursing assistant gives you an eye view of what it's like to work in a hospital setting and taking care of patients personally.

Should you find working as a certified nursing assistant be the right career move for you, then you are off to a lucrative and personally rewarding job experience. Learning all about becoming a nursing assistant is looking at the different job requirements of a CNA. A nursing assistant is a member of the medical team and a primary care giver for patients and clients. 

Here Are The Most Common Job Requirements:

1. You will work side by side medical experts, nurses and doctors as all of you take care of the patients well being. You will follow orders given to you and render them in a courteous and professional manner keeping in mind total quality care for patients and clients. Simple orders like giving patients sponge baths to lower fever, giving an enema to prepare for procedures, assisting in bedside treatments for patients, etc are just regular demands of being a nursing assistant.

2. Aside from following orders from nurses and doctors, you have tasks that are regularly done by nursing assistants which are included in his daily work. You will replace bed linens daily, replace patient's gowns, assist patients especially bed ridden clients in personal care, providing clean towels, blankets and pillow sheets and making sure that patients eat their meals provided by the hospital dietary.

It is also your personal duty to provide patients with the best comfortable stay as they are confined in the hospital. Some patients may need more than physical care or treatment and you as a nursing assistant may be the only person to provide personal comfort and friendship as the patient struggles with his illness.

3. You will also assist patients as they are transported to different areas of the hospital for diagnostic procedures like CT scan, MRIs, colonoscopy, surgery and many more. You will carry patient's charts and endorse them to receiving personnel and make sure patient is comfortable as you leave him for the examination. If you are asked to stay, you may assist in the procedure as well.

4. You may also be asked to join patient's family and other members of the medical team as a patient is transported to another medical center or multispecialty clinic for further treatment. You may be asked to carry lifesaving equipment like IV lines, oxygen tanks and many more. Some nursing assistants may take extra units and become a member of a quick response team or join an ambulance team. You may assist ЕMTs in transporting patients, lifting equipment and even giving life saving measures like CPR and first aid.

5. You will assist patients as they are prepared for surgery by prepping the surgical area, briefing the patients on when not to eat and drink and even just by comforting patients who are anxious about surgery. You may also be asked to transport patients to the surgical suite and endorse him together with other members of the medical team.

Post surgery, CNAs may be trained to measure patient's intake and output and even his vital signs (respiration, pulse, temperature and blood pressure) should the nurse or doctor need to evaluate the patient closely. A nursing assistant must know the important emergency signs and when to call for immediate medical attention for patients post surgery.

6. If you are a nursing assistant assigned in a maternity ward or in the nursery, you may have different tasks is a typical day. Certified nursing assistants in these areas need to be knowledgeable in skills and behavior in taking care of mothers and newborns. Mothers are assisted from labor to delivery as well as when she goes to the nursery to breastfeed or when the baby is taken to the bedside for breastfeeding.

You will have to bathe, feed, change, burp and clean newborns as they stay temporarily in the nursery and even when they are placed near the bedside. A nursing assistant should always be ready for first time mothers who may ask questions on how to hold their newborn, how to feed, change and even how to pacify their newborns. It's a unique experience to become a part of a mother's early days in caring for her baby and nursing assistants are fortunate to be a part of this experience as well.

7. If you are a certified nursing assistant in a nursing home, you may also have unique duties such as caring for seniors as they feed themselves, dress up, bathe and even ambulate. Although not all seniors in a nursing home require close personal supervision, a nursing assistant must exhibit a helpful nature for seniors to become comfortable and trust him in their care.

Nursing assistants may also work with seniors in their own private residences; there are even CNAs that have become close friends and have developed lasting relationships with their employers allowing them to travel with their employers and seek further education sponsored by their benefactors.

8. Certified nursing assistants may also work with other types of patients that require special medical attention like post operative patients, children with learning disabilities, individuals with behavioral problems and clients who need physical therapy or other rehabilitative procedures. He may be employed by the hospital or specialty clinics or he may work on his own.

Certified nursing assistants duties may differ from one state to another or from one country to another so it pays to make ample research on these before you decide to take up CNA training and certification. You may also need to look up certification requirements and training entry-level requirements as well so you may start to prepare for CNA training as soon as possible.