What will I do?
It's all in the name: as a healthcare assistant you'll help patients, visitors and the staff on your team. It's a busy, fulfilling role and you'll have the satisfaction of helping people through difficult times.
Like all healthcare support workers, the main focus of your role will always be our patients. You will not perform complicated procedures, or administer medications. But you will have plenty of contact with patients, their families and visitors.
It will be your job, for instance to:
- Make sure that patients are clean and comfortable
- Listen to and talk with patients, and let the nursing staff know about any concerns
- Serve food and help people who need assistance to eat
- Help people who have difficulty moving to change position in bed and move around the ward or clinic eg to the toilet
- Record observations, like temperature, pulse rate and blood pressure
- Document how much patients eat and drink
- Weighing people and calculating and recording BMI
- Uphold our Trust values – kind, safe and excellent – in everything you do
We will also train you to deal with emergencies, like heart attacks. You will be taught how to look after someone in the last days or hours of their life.
You'll find more about what the role is like under Is it for me?
Although it is hard work, you will be part of a supportive team. Our hospital could not run without healthcare assistants and we work hard to ensure that your role is rewarding and valued.