healthcare assistant

As a healthcare assistant, you have to be ready to perform the following duties and to undertake the following roles. Apart from the general duties of assisting patients with their activities and checking for vital signs to determine the patients' health improvement, there are several duties you will have to perform:

• Helping clean the patients’ rooms or homes and bedding and maintaining patients’ general hygiene standards
• Serving patients’ meals and assisting them in feeding
• Processing samples
• Sterilising equipment
• Assisting patients with mobility needs by positioning, turning, lifting, and moving them using movable beds or wheelchairs
• Reassuring patients and providing them with therapeutic care by communicating and talking to them to comfort them
• Checking for supplies and other medical equipment  and coordinates with pharmacist and ordering their replenishment
• Promoting positive nutritional, mental, and physical health of patients
• Assisting patients with daily activities including bathing, washing, moving, eating, and other necessary activities
• Providing assistance and support to nurses and other professionals whenever called upon
• Observing and monitoring patients’ health conditions and recording body temperatures, weight, respiration, and pulse rate
• Providing pain relief procedures such as massage for pregnant women
• Constant observation of patients’ health conditions and reporting to professional nurses
• Setting up the necessary equipment for healthcare professionals
• Preparing patients for surgery, therapy, and other medical procedures
• Adhering to professional standards
• Joining other healthcare professionals in important meetings

As a healthcare assistant, your duties will not be limited to the list above. You may be required to do some tasks by your supervising nurse or healthcare professional that are not included in the list. When working in health centers and surgical centers, you may also undertake the following responsibilities:

• processing lab samples
• restocking consulting rooms
• conducting health education work and health promotion
• doing health checks
• taking patients’ blood samples, especially when you have received training in phlebotomy

Healthcare assistants work in different environments. They are not limited to hospital and clinical environments only. They can work in patients’ homes, nursing homes, hospitals, and even in the general community. Since your work will always revolve around patients in different settings, ensure that you are accommodating, caring, and patient with other people. Healthcare assistants may work in both indoor and outdoor working environments.

As a healthcare assistant, your standard schedule each week is around 37-40 hours. Your working time will include a mix of shifts, such as day, evening, early morning, night, and weekends. When not on shift, you can still be called upon to work, especially in emergencies. The job involves busy day schedules ranging from appointments with patients to reporting to professionals, recording, and preparing patients for other procedures.

Like any other field in healthcare, the field of healthcare assistants provides an opportunity for growth and development. Doing this job does not mean you will remain at the same job level, but with further training, there are opportunities for advancing the ladder. In short, there are many opportunities to progress. There is an opportunity to work as an assistant practitioner or nursing associate and even to aim toward an appropriate foundational degree. With further studies, you have a long list of opportunities to choose from, including:

• speech and language therapist
• dietician
• radiographer
• orthoptist
• art therapist

With the required qualifications, you can acquire training in other degrees in healthcare programs such as a supervising social worker, a podiatrist, occupational therapist, or professional nurse.

As a healthcare worker, you will also have to be good in certain areas to relate well with patients. Such areas include:

• Listening skills
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Observational skills
• Organisational skills
• Teamwork

It is possible to grow and improve in these skills with experience in the job. To be a successful healthcare assistant, you will need to have the ability to accept criticism. Good customer service skills are also needed for this particular job.

The duties and responsibilities of a healthcare assistant in the UK include providing care to patients in whichever setting whether it's the hospital, clinic, nursing home, community, or patients' homes. You will also provide assistance to professionals where necessary. Your roles will revolve around the patients’ well-being to make them as comfortable as possible by assisting them in their daily activities, including feeding, moving around, cleaning and dressing them. You will also have to observe and monitor their health conditions and improvement by providing a stress-free environment.

The pay for healthcare assistants in London, United Kingdom, ranges between £18,000-47,000 with an average of £22,535 according to glassdoor after including bonuses and compensations. 

Yes, they can. Healthcare assistants are supposed to help professional healthcare workers to offer care to patients. They are only to work under the supervision of professionals. As a healthcare worker, you will not give medication to patients or even be allowed to perform complex medical procedures. You will only be allowed to perform simple nursing tasks such as observing and monitoring the patient's health conditions by taking weights, pulse rates, temperatures, and taking blood samples.

Applying for a job as a healthcare assistant is easy: create a randstad profile and search our job offers for vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here!