Health Care Assistant

Job overview

As a Health Care Assistant, you will become a valued member of a highly skilled team, assisting the registered nursing staff  in providing high quality care at all times. You will need to have excellent communication skills, be cheerful  and friendly and willing to provide personal care.

As a HCA you will be the eyes and the ears of our patients, we are looking to employ caring individuals who want to provide excellent care to patients in our service. We are proud to be going back to basics with our fundamentals of care programme and want you to be part of this.

We expect you to undertake all aspects of basic nursing care, including personal care supporting the patients to remain independent.  We expect all staff to participate in the maintenance of the ward and with support of professionally qualified members of the multidisciplinary team ensuring the highest standard of patient/client care.

We will support you to undertake core and additional trainings and ensure you have the support you need to flourish in this vital role.

You will be delivering care under the supervision and direction of qualified members of the team.

We expect to deliver excellent standard of care -review and report any change to patient’s condition to appropriately qualified senior members of the team.

Positions available in ward A8 and Surgical Assessment Unit

Main duties of the job

Contribute to the delivery of care and clinical activity in accordance with agreed plan of care and appropriate policies, procedures and protocols of ward/department.

2 Report any alteration in patients’/client’s condition including the initiation of emergency action to the qualified clinical nurse.

3 To be aware of spiritual, cultural and religious needs of patients and to ensure care provided is particularly sensitive to those needs.

4 Collect specimens of urine, faeces, or sputum as directed by qualified clinical nurse, ensuring its safe storage/transport or disposal as appropriate.

5 Assist with the control of infection including the safe disposal of clinical waste.

6 Provide assistance to address the nutritional /dietary needs of patients/clients:

a. Ensuring specific care instructions are complied with i.e. nil by mouth. b. Assisting patients/clients with their oral care needs c. Assisting patients/clients to ensure they receive necessary fluid intake. d. Assisting patients/clients with their meals, which will include aiding patients/clients to complete menu choices, assisting and encouraging patients to eat meals. e. Ensure all dietary intake or refusals are appropriately documented in patient’s notes.

7 Provide assistance to ensure the psychological/emotional and physical needs of patients/clients are met responding and reporting appropriately:

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached job description & person specification for full details of what this role entails.