Key Roles and Responsibilities
The core of the job is assisting with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Your duties will typically include:
Personal Care:
Bathing and Grooming: Assisting with showers, bed baths, oral care, hair brushing, and shaving.
Dressing: Helping patients choose appropriate clothing and get dressed.
Toileting: Assisting with using the toilet, bedpans, or urinals. Managing incontinence care.
Mobility: Helping patients turn in bed, sit up, transfer to chairs or wheelchairs, and walk. Using devices like gait belts or Hoyer lifts safely.
Health Monitoring and Basic Clinical Tasks:
Vital Signs: Measuring and recording temperature, pulse, respiration rate, and blood pressure.
Height and Weight: Tracking changes in a patient’s weight.
Specimen Collection: Collecting urine or stool samples as directed.
Feeding: Assisting with eating and drinking, ensuring proper hydration and nutrition.
Documentation: Accurately recording care provided and observations in patient charts.
Comfort and Emotional Support:
Communication: Actively listening and talking with patients.
Companionship: Providing social interaction and reducing feelings of loneliness.
Empathy: Offering emotional reassurance and a comforting presence.
Safety and Environment:
Infection Control: Maintaining a clean environment and following proper hygiene protocols.
Safety Checks: Ensuring the patient’s room is free of hazards.
Reporting: Immediately reporting any changes in a patient’s condition to the nurse.
Essential Skills and Qualities
To be successful, you need more than just technical skill.
Compassion and Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of someone who is vulnerable is the most important quality.
Patience and Understanding: Tasks can take longer, and patients may be confused, frustrated, or scared.
Physical Stamina: The job involves a lot of standing, walking, bending, and lifting.
Strong Communication Skills: You must listen to patients and communicate clearly with them, their families, and the nursing team.
Reliability and Trustworthiness: Patients and their families are placing their trust in you.
Observational Skills: Noticing small changes in a patient’s condition (e.g., a new rash, change in appetite, mood swings) is critical.
Emotional Stability: The job can be emotionally draining; you need healthy coping mechanisms.
Call – 9582997787, 9873828784