Essay - Job Satisfaction Among Medical Assistants Introduction the Retention of Employees...

JOB SATISFACTION AMONG MEDICAL ASSISTANTS

*****

The retention of employees in medical practices is critical to the practice in terms of the 'bottom line'. The ***** ***** has historically experienced problems in reta*****ing quality *****, specifically physician assistants (PAs) The precise dollar amount is difficult in assignation of the loss, however the potential costs of turnover is easily measured in ***** three areas of (1) patient *****; (2) ***** *****volved in attracting new *****s; and (3) costs associated with the hiring of new employees. (Fitz-Enz, 1997) White (1995) states that: "Employee turnover can undermine the pr*****itability and overall efficiency of a company. Turnover is a problem that poses a serious threat to many industries, particularly fast food, retail, convenience s*****res, trucking and healthcare, where ***** rates exceed 75%. (p.15)

History of the Physician/Medical Assistant

Non-physician healthcare providers have been known in ***** delivery of ***** in other countries for many years ***** the work ***** carrying out functions generally know to be with the scope of normal physician provisions of healthcare. Russia healthcare providers that are ***** ***** non-physician type or " the Feldsher' concept found its origination in Russia in the military system introduced by Peter ***** Great. Training programs ********** formally in the latter part of the 1800's due to a shortage ***** physicians *****by the feldshers took over many of the functions of physicians in treatment and diagnoses of illnesses which were common.) After end*****g military service the feldshers settled in remote areas such as the ***** ***** Russia that were rural or ***** areas of Alaska. In China the non-physician healthcare providers became known as the 'barefoot doctors' in ***** middle 1960's and arose to answer the need expressed by a lack of physicians. Provided with a 2-***** month period of training these doctors worked in hospital sett*****gs with supervisional ***** with ***** working in rural villages for the prevention disease practice. Mary Breckenridge was the *****er of ***** first training and service program in 1925 in East Kentucky for nurse midwifery. ***** ***** became ***** as the Frontier Nursing Service "dedicated to the needs ***** women and families trapped in a culture of soci*****l isolation...' (Keenan, 1999) During ***** middle part ***** the ***** ***** physician assistant gained notice. It was described by Carter ***** Gifford (1995) as to the conditions that contributed ***** the concept of the PA becoming a re*****lity in the U.S.:

An ********** social consciousness among many Americans that called for the elimination ***** all *****s of deprivation in society, especi*****y among the poor, members ***** minority groups, and women.

***** increasing positive value attached to health ***** ***** care, ***** produced greater demand ***** health services, criticism of the health-care delivery system, and constant complaint about rising health-care costs.

Heightened concerns about the supply of *****, their geographical and specialty misdistribution, and the workloads they carried.

Awareness of a variety ***** physician extender models, including the community nurse-midwife in America, the "***** medical officer" in Africa, ***** the feldsher in