Health Care Assistant - a day in the life

[GizmoIsSoFluffy]

Thinking of changing jobs to be a Health Care Assistant. Is there anyone here who could tell me what an average (ha, ha) day would be like?

Currently a TA, so used to low wages.

Before I did my nursing I was a HCA in a unit for younger people with dementia/mental health issues.
Started at 7 with handover.
Then in to sign in.
Paired up to wash the doubles and all cares.
One person would then help the more able to wash and dress.
Serve breakfast, feed those who needed it.
After breakfast sort out anything going on that day. Start breaks.
Mid morning coffee etc.
Lots of paperwork.
Regular turns and pressure relief.
Toilet run before lunch.
Get everyone at the table and serve and feed.
Clean away.
Many would go to bed in the afternoon so hoist etc back.
Catch up on paperwork.
Afternoon breaks.
Tea/biscuits etc...
Out of bed and ready for tea.
Serve tea etc...
Clean up, paperwork.
Settle for tv for some, put others into bed.
Count the minutes for nights to come in!!

HCAs are different with every job. You could work in a go surgery and spend the day doing blood tests, dressings, injections, heath checks, ecgs etc

Well it’s very much dependent on area and whether it is general or mental health.

Some typical tasks would include the following…..
Assisting with personal care and supporting to toilet.
Doing physical observations
ECG’s
Bloods
Nutrition: feeding, monitoring fluids etc
Repositioning of patients
Catheter care.

Im an RMN working in inpatient mental health so our HCA’s do all of the above plus
Escorts
Therapeutic observations
Infection control measures including cleaning beds
1:1 time with patients.
Physical interventions for violence and aggression.

Our HCA’s work very hard and it’s a varied but underpaid job IMO. Inpatient HCA’s should all be band 3.

Jeez all that on a band 2, sorry to derail, but there’s disgusting for band 2 pay.

*that’s not there’s

do you mean in a care home or hospital?

Thankyou. Didn't realise there was so much variety. I was thinking at our local hospital (county hospital), but it sounds like even that could be varied.

I usually nights.

9pm - 11:30pm - A mix of;
welfare checks (pop in, make a cuppa if wanted, check if any assistance is needed, quick chat, write up daily visit book)
Meds calls (all of the above plus administer night meds)
Full night call (usually a double up - wash and change pad/attend to personal hygiene, dress for bed, assist into bed using the neccessary equipment. Meds if required and ensure pendent and fluids are within easy reach).

11:30 - 1230 - Allegedly laundry but was actually supper time as washing was put in between calls.

12:30 - 1am - dry and fold laundry and return to the correct room.

1am-5am - break/nap and attend to any buzzer calls for assistance/pad changes.

5am-5:30am coffee break

5:30-645am - start morning calls for the early risers (up, shower, clean pad, clean clothes, breakfast, medication, write up daily visit book)

6:45-7am - write up handover sheet.

That was the dream shift and a lot of the time we did get that but then there were the shifts were people fell or needed paramedics or had a mental health crisis.

And the times when morning staff called in sick so night staff were expected to stay until cover could be found because it is simply not possible to work one down.

It's a rewarding job. I loved it. But it can be tough at times.

Thankyou everyone, you've been very helpful

Sorry to jump on the thread - is the normally plenty of opportunity for additional hours? Bank shifts for example to top up the wages if need be?

yes, as many care homes, nursing homes are understaffed.

In the current climate you will be fighting for days off not more hours @LaFlottes . But if you mean as extra job to your current one, yes, there are plenty of bank staff needed and lots of hours to go around, especially if you are flexible and can work long hours at short notice.

Thank you @Frequency and @teraculum29

Is it possible to do bank work alongside another job, if you’ve not really got any experience?

I was wondering about doing this alongside my current job to see if I like it - or if I was to try and get a HCA job I would probably need more than 37.5 hours as it would be a drop in salary.

I think I would really love it but wish it was paid a little better.

I used to do it alongside my day job, hence mostly working nights but there are evening and weekend shifts too. 37.5 hours would be considered part-time the way thing are the moment the fulltime staff are lucky if they get less than 60 hours a week.

Nights, evenings and weekends are the hardest to cover.

Local to me most care homes have the same shift pattern.
Day staff do 7am-6pm or 7am-2pm (you need more staff on a morning than an afternoon)
Evening/night staff do 4pm-9:30pm or 9pm-7am.

It's not unsual to be asked to stay on to help cover the next shift if they're short staffed so a 9pm-7am shift can easily turn into a 9pm-11am shift or a 7am-2pm can turn into a 7am-9:30pm.

I was once asked to stay on to do a night shift after doing 7am-9:30pm but politely declined. TBF to the OOH team who phoned me I think they thought I'd started at 2pm as the 7-2pm was a shift I picked up at the last minute and wouldn't have been on my normal rota.

@Frequency thats really interesting thank you!

I was looking at jobs at both a local care home and also a hospital. The hospital one is 37.5 hrs and salaried - would you get paid for extra hours then or would 60 hours be just expected because of staff shortages?

A couple of night shifts or evening shifts in a care home might work well actually too! It’s good to know you did it alongside your day job too.

Some of my colleagues do extra shifts, but some do extra work through agency work in hospital.
As work through agency but on NHS hospital it pays much more especial night shifts.