Developing Job Description for Dietitians Working in Public Health Nutrition Areas

Cha, Jin A; Park, Hae Ryun; Lim, Young Suk; Lim, Seung Hee

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a standardized job description for dietitians working in the public health nutrition area. Work-oriented job analysis methodology was employed for the study purpose. Subjects of 38 dietitians currently working at health centers in 2002 were recruited. Based on the focus group interview with 7 public health nutritionists and 7 professors, information about task elements was collected. Questionnaires measuring work performance and self-perception of importance of the selected task elements were administered. Reliability and validity of this instrument were tested by Chronbach's alpha and factor analysis. SAS PC package program was used for the statistical analysis. The final developed job description for public health nutritionists included 5 duties, 20 tasks and 93 task elements. The results of this study can be summarized as follows; 1) 5 duty areas are A. plan and evaluation of public health nutrition services, B. developing nutrition education materials, C. implementing nutrition services, D. networking community, and E. self development. 2) Each duty area from A to E was composed with 6, 2, 6, 4, 2 tasks, respectively. 3) Each duty area from A to E was composed with 24, 8, 38, 14, 9, and 2 task elements, respectively.