Abstract
Objectives: To review position descriptions of the community and public health nutrition workforce in order to assess employers' expectations of workforce functions and competency requirements. Design: Qualitative content analysis of job descriptions obtained from a sample of the known community and public health nutrition workforce in Australia and collation of position descriptions advertised in the February 2002 to August 2002 period. Subjects: Community and public health nutritionists in the Australian health system. Main outcome measures: Descriptive qualitative data about employers' expectations of the core functions, competencies and credentials of community and public health nutritionists, as expressed by position descriptions. Results: From a total of 64 position descriptions obtained, 46 were included in the analysis. This sample consisted of 35 existing (occupied) positions and 11 new (advertised) positions. These were distributed across 29 entry-level and 17 advanced-level positions. The most consistent core function domains, as represented by duty statements, were community-based nutrition intervention management (planning, strategy development, implementation and evaluation), capacity building and nutrition-related research and evaluation. Entry-level positions were more likely to have direct-care or clinical dietetics functions and there was a stronger emphasis on coordination, capacity building and research in the advanced-level positions. Competency expectations, as represented by key selection criteria, focused on experience of intervention management, knowledge of public health nutrition issues and strategies, interpersonal communication skills and the ability to adopt a multidisciplinary working style. Almost all of the entry-level positions required mandatory dietetic qualifications. Conclusions: As a proxy of employers' expectations, analysis of workforce position descriptions by duties (functions) and selection criteria (credentials and... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]