Job Details

Job Title:

Health Care Assistant

Directorate:

Trust Wide

Accountable to:

Ward Manager

Location

Gateshead Health

Pay Band:

Band 3

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

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 child’s hospital experience.

•      To record and clearly document patient’s 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

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.