Healthcare assistant jobs

The main function of a healthcare assistant is to support the nursing and healthcare personnel in providing the highest level of care for people in need. These roles are often seen as the bedrock of good patient care as they are very ‘hands on’ and you spend more time with the patients than any of the other healthcare jobs. It is therefore possible to build strong relationships with the people you are helping and make a daily difference in peoples’ lives.

With the emphasis on health care services now moving more to community services, health care assistant jobs become even more important in enabling a person to retain as much independence as possible whilst receiving the care they need. There are many places where health care assistant vacancies can be found, for example:

• Health Service Executive (HSE) hospitals, clinics and day care centres
• Private hospital and clinics
• Nursing, residential and care homes
• Community services

Within these areas, you can find a healthcare assistant vacancy in all the medical and healthcare specialties such as: orthopaedics; paediatrics; geriatrics; oncology; general surgery; general medical; psychiatric and mental health; the physically disabled; maternity; gynaecology; operating theatres; outpatient clinics and accident and emergency departments; neurology and neurosurgical wards and departments; cardiology and cardiothoracic wards and departments; learning disabilities; plus many others.

Requirements for healthcare assistant jobs vary from employer to employer. Some require just a basic education and school leaving certificates with maybe a patient handling, CPR or first aid certificate and some request at least a FETAC level 5 in a healthcare subject. Either way, most employers offer on the job training specific to their particular speciality – for example, caring for the aged or for psychiatric patients, etc.

Job descriptions may vary according to the work specialty and where the job is but there are several general tasks expected of most health care assistants.

These include:

• Washing and turning patients who are confined in bed
• Assisting those who are mobile with their hygiene – baths or showers, shaving, hair washing, etc.
• Helping patients to mobilise and to dress
• Assisting with toilet needs – whether that means helping the person to a toilet or taking a bedpan or urinal to them
• Taking and recording vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, etc) plus reporting any abnormalities to a senior person
• Helping patients to eat where necessary
• Keeping the patients environment clean and tidy
• Providing social interaction to prevent boredom and depression
• Making beds
• Observing patients who may place themselves in danger

Key skills

• Have empathy, patience and compassion
• Be able to put other people’ needs before your own
• Possess excellent communication skills
• Have the ability to build good rapport with people
• Be willing and able to help nursing and other healthcare staff as and when necessary
• Be able to take initiative within scope of practice
• Have a deep respect for people’s dignity and right to privacy (especially the need for confidentiality)
• Treat each patient as an individual
• Be reliable, trustworthy and maintain the highest integrity
• Possess a good sense of humour
• Have good organisational skills
• Be flexible
• Be able to take instructions from more senior members of the healthcare team
• Have an understanding of and a willingness to stay within your own limitations
• Be committed to continually improving knowledge and staying up to date with the latest innovations
• Love working with people and/or children

There are many training colleges offering health and social care courses leading to the FETAC 5 award. These courses take from eight months to one year to complete and can be full or part time (some are also offered on a correspondence basis). They are normally modular in structure with some modules being mandatory (such as: care skills; care support; safety and health at work; communications; and work experience) and some optional (for example: nutrition; anatomy and physiology; child development; human growth and development; caring for children; care of people with mental illness; occupational first aid; palliative care; and care of the older person). For people wishing to use this award as a starting point for further healthcare courses there are modules such as ‘An introduction to nursing’ which may assist with an application to study nursing at a later stage.

So, health care assistant jobs are not only rewarding in themselves, but can also lead to more senior positions and careers within healthcare such as nursing, supervisory, lead and management positions.

To be effective as a healthcare assistant, you will also need to

• Be familiar with and follow the policies and procedures of your institution and profession
• Understand and abide by the legal issues pertinent to the healthcare assistant job
• Assist with the training of new recruits
• Understand and maintain superior infection control techniques and measures, including: hand washes; hand sprays; disposal of medical waste; handling of linen; correct handling and management of any laboratory specimens; etc.
• Participate in the care of aids and equipment plus stock control where appropriate