Job responsibilities
Job Details
Job Title:
Health Care Assistant
Directorate:
Trust Wide
Accountable to:
Ward Manager
Location
Gateshead Health
Pay Band:
Band 2
Main Purpose of the Job
To support all members of the Multi Disciplinary Team to deliver high quality, safe patient care.
To ensure a safe, clean and well stocked working environment.
To assist the registered staff to care for and provide treatment to unwell and injured children
To support children and families throughout their hospital experience.
Communications and Relationships
Please specify information being communicated and the level of complexity entailed and to whom, the skills required to motivate, negotiate, persuade, and empathise, and breaking bad news sensitively and provide reassurance.
Communicates information to staff, patients, relatives and carers.
Communicates information in an empathetic and reassuring way where there may be barriers to communication/understanding i.e. speech/language/hearing difficulties.
Communicates with patients, clients, relatives and staff whose first language may not be English.
Is able to communicate effectively using written and oral skills.
Establish and maintain effective relationships with patients, relatives and colleagues.
Provide and receive routine information requiring tact or persuasive skills; barriers to understanding.
Exchanges factual information with patients using persuasion, reassurance, tact, empathy, may overcome barriers to understanding e.g. patient has physical or mental disabilities.
Knowledge, Skills, Training and Experience
Essential
Experience of having worked with children and families
Excellent communication and organisational skills.
Team working skills.
Excellent organisational skills and the ability to prioritise workload.
Work as part of MDT.
IT skills/knowledge appropriate to the role
Courses and skills that demonstrate transferable skills, Previous care experience preferably in a health care setting
Desirable
Recent relevant experience.
Level 3 NVQ in maths and English or evidence of GCSE maths and English.
Essential
Experience of working and communicating with people
Minimum of level 2 functional skills in English
Minimum of level 2 functional skills in Mathematics
Ability to work flexibly as service needs dictate. This includes weekend and bank holiday work.
Experience in using I.T.
Experience of working in a team
Knowledge of personal care and related procedures
Knowledge of information governance including data protection and confidentiality
Analytical and Judgemental Skills
Please include analytical & judgemental skills required for the post e.g. making judgements in situations where information is either difficult to obtain / understand or medical notes/information on history is unavailable.
Able to judge when to involve senior staff
Able to assess own ability
Able to assess when a patient may cause harm to themselves or other patients
Make judgements involving facts or situations, some requiring analysis
Prioritise which duties to respond to first
Report patient conditions to senior staff
Planning and Organisational Skills
Examples include; planning or organising clinical or non-clinical services, departments, rotas, meetings, conferences and for strategic planning.
Able to prioritise the delivery of care to patients under the instruction of qualified registered staff
Able to assist with the planning and discharge of patients in a timely manner
Physical Skills (manual dexterity)
Examples Include: hand-eye co-ordination, sensory skills, (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell etc), dexterity, manipulation, speed and accuracy, keyboard and driving skills.
Be able to operate machinery such as patient hoists
Be able to stand for prolonged periods of time and mobilise for periods up to 12 hours
Be able to respond with speed when required in emergency situations
Be able to perform repetitive actions such as bending
Be able to use a keyboard
Hand eye co- ordination for manoeuvring wheelchairs, using hoists, moving beds/cots
Patient/Client care:
Please specify the level of involvement in the provision of care to patients/clients and including how responsibility is shared with others.
To assist other nursing staff in attending to physical, psychological and spiritual needs of the patient
To take and record patients vital signs and input into electronic systems
To be able to recognise the signs of a deteriorating patient
To maintain patient confidentiality
To undertake and record urinalysis results and report accurately
To undertake and record blood sugar results and report accurately
To prepare patients for meals
To assist patients with meals where necessary
To practice safely within infection, prevention and control measures
Provides personal care to patients and undertakes personal care duties e.g. bathing, toileting where necessary.
To assist in distraction and the provision of play equipment to enhance the childs hospital experience.
To record and clearly document patients measurements including height and weight.
To assist with procedures and treatments including taking bloods.
Policy and Service Development:
Level of involvement in the implementation of policy and contribution to the decision making process both within own department and other functions.
Be able to contribute to the decision making process to improve service delivery
Follows policies in own role, may be required to comment
Follows policies, may participate in discussions on proposed changes to procedures
To collect feedback from friends and family questionnaire or other specific feedback forms
Financial and Physical Resources e.g. budget, stock and equipment:
Responsibility for cash, budgets, and physical assests, vehicles, plant and machinery including the security of equipment.
To ensure that all equipment that is not safe to use is reported
To carry out safety checks on equipment as required under the instruction of the qualified registered staff
Duty of personal care in relation to handling patient cash/ valuables
Maintain ward supplies and stock as necessary
Orders ward supplies as appropriate
Human Resources
Responsibilities of the job for the training and development of employees/students/trainees. In addition responsibility for the operational management of staff such as recruitment, discipline, appraisal, and career development.
To engage in the yearly appraisal
To act as a buddy for newly appointed Unregistered nurses
To act as a role model for student nurses
To carry out continued personal development as identified with ward manager
Information Resources:
Level of responsibility for either paper based or computerized records and systems, responsibility for information systems both hardware and software, plus the generation and creation of information
Requirement to complete paper and electronic based patient records
Requirement to use I.T. systems to arrange patient transport, input vital signs and order equipment
Research and Development:
Responsibility for informal or formal clinical or non-clinical R & D including audit.
To assist with audit and research projects as requested to support improvement in practice
Undertake surveys or audits of own work as necessary
Freedom to Act
Please specify the level of autonomy and accountability, the level of discretion in the role and where guidance is available from e.g. supervisor, departmental procedures / NHS Guidance/legislation.
Work under supervision and within a set of defined parameters to deliver patient care
Responsible for maintaining own personal standards
Physical Effort
Please describe activities, frequency and the degree of effort required
Frequent moving and handling of patients and equipment
Frequent moderate effort for several short/long periods
Occasional Turns, manoeuvres patients for toileting and bathing using aids
Occasional requirement to move patients on trolleys
Mental Effort
Please describe the scope, circumstances and frequency of concentration & interruptions
Frequent interruptions while carrying out tasks
Frequent conflicting demands on time and resources
Concentration for personal care duties
Emotional Effort
Please describe the exposure, frequency and involvement in distressing or emotional situations
Frequent exposure to sensitive and emotional situations
Required to be able to respond to unpredictable and difficult situations
Care of critically ill/ patient deaths
Working Conditions
Please describe the type and extent of exposure to unpleasant working conditions/hazards
Frequent exposure to bodily fluid and highly unpleasant conditions such as smell, noise, dust/body fluids, faeces, vomit, emptying bed pans, urinals and catheter bags.
