Search & apply for Health Assistant jobs in the NHS, not for profit organisations and charities
Healthcare Assistant jobs involve working alongside fully qualified healthcare practitioners either within a hospital or a more community based organisation. The scope of the areas in which you perform your duties are quite broad as you may give surgical assistance in operations, support a midwife or be involved in running special clinics within healthcare centres such as smoking cessation clinics or assisting other allied health professionals. Most Healthcare Assistant jobs require performing various clerical duties therefore you need to be proficient in the computer systems used in each organisation.
Depending on the organisation’s structure some Healthcare Support jobs focus on supporting Nurses (Auxiliary Nurses or Nursing Auxiliaries is a commonly used title) where typical duties may include:-
- Assisting with the patients comfort levels
- Taking temperatures, respirations and other statistics like blood pressure to ensure the patient is being monitored effectively
- Helping the patients move around
- Change and clean dressings
- Ensure patients are nourished
In other cases Healthcare Assistant jobs focus mainly on supporting Allied Health Professionals where duties are more therapy based and are likely to include the following:
- Keep records of treatments up to date
- Prepare patients prior to meeting with the Allied Health Professional
- Ensuring all equipment that is to be used is ready and functioning
- Support the Allied Health Professional during the treatment
There are certain requirements for entry level Healthcare Assistant jobs, which is an NVQ level 3 qualification. Obtaining a NVQ level 2 you can gain more responsibilities and a higher salary.