Working as a healthcare assistant is incredibly rewarding and if you’re not getting much satisfaction from your existing role, you may want to consider a career change. However, if you don’t know much about what working as a healthcare assistant actually entails, understandably you may be apprehensive about taking a leap and applying for your first private care job.
To give anyone who is interested in becoming a healthcare assistant an insight into what a typical day is like providing care and support in the local community, below we have put together some information about a day in the life of a Beloved Homecare care assistant.
Standard shift
At Beloved Homecare, our core hours are 7 am to 10 pm and healthcare assistants will usually start their shift at either 7 am or 4 pm. The length of each shift will depend on the number of hours an individual wants to work per week and both part-time and full-time roles are available. Some clients will require overnight care too and the specialist care team that provides overnight support will work slightly longer shifts that are usually 8 pm until 8 am.
During the working day, all care assistants will receive at least one break and depending on the length of their round, they may have more than this. The whole shift will be out in the community and healthcare assistants don’t need to start their shifts at the office, they can simply go straight to the first client on their schedule and clock in using their work mobile. Similarly, they don’t have to end their shift at the office either.
Visiting clients in the community
Whilst out in the community, healthcare assistants will use a system called PASS. This industry-leading care management system makes it really easy for the care team to access clients’ care plans and ensure they’re providing the right type of support during each visit.
All care assistants need to have a driver’s licence and a vehicle they can use during their shifts to get to clients’ properties. However, at Beloved Homecare, we pay our care teams’ mileage and we ensure that our healthcare assistants don’t have too far to travel during their shift. All of our clients live locally within the Trafford area and we also put them into rounds. For example, if a healthcare assistant is allocated an ‘Urmston Round’, all of their clients will be local in Urmston and they will only have a 5 – 10 minute drive between clients.
Depending on the length of the shift, healthcare assistants will visit 6 – 10 clients and continuity of care is really important to us at Beloved Homecare. Many of our clients have frequent visits, for example; breakfast, lunch and tea calls, and whenever possible, we will ensure the same healthcare assistant completes all of these visits. Not only does this help our care team build rapport with clients, but it helps clients to establish healthy routines too.
Core duties
Due to the fact that we offer a range of home care services at Beloved Homecare, including household and domestic care, personal care, and companionship care, a healthcare assistant’s shift can be quite varied. The type of support one client needs will likely be completely different to another client, and our care team will undertake a range of core duties during their shifts.
Commonly, healthcare assistants will assist with things such as; general housekeeping and chores, personal hygiene and cleanliness, preparing and cooking meals, dispensing medication, going to the shops, visiting local garden centres and walking around parks, as well as having a chat over a cup of tea. Healthcare assistants can find out more about what they’re required to do during a visit on the PASS system, preventing any confusion.
The client is always the care assistants’ top priority and whilst they may interact with family members when needed, our office team is on hand to provide assistance with this. To take the stress and any additional responsibilities away from our care team, office staff will deal with family members’ queries and concerns accordingly, and feedback to the healthcare assistants to ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to a client’s care and support needs.
Applying for private care jobs in Sale
Now you know a little bit more about what a typical day is like for a healthcare assistant, if you’re interested in applying for a private care job, don’t hesitate to contact us at Beloved Homecare. We are always looking for kind, caring and compassionate people to join our care team and provide support to residents in the local community.
You don’t need to have any experience to apply for our private care jobs, we provide a fully comprehensive training program and as a family-run business, we will ensure you have the ongoing support you need in order to provide outstanding levels of care. Visit our website today to find out more about why you should work for Beloved Homecare and the benefits of our private care jobs. If you have any questions about joining our care team, feel free to get in touch with us, we’re more than happy to answer these for you.