Hospital orderly

Health care assistants provide direct personal care and assistance with activities of daily living to patients and residents in a variety of health and social care settings such as hospitals, clinics and residential medico-social care facilities. They generally work under the direct supervision of medical, nursing or other health professionals.

• providing care, assistance and treatment to patients and residents of medical and rehabilitation facilities and residential medico-social care facilities in accordance with care plans prepared by medical, nursing or other health professionals;
• assisting patients with personal and therapeutic needs such as personal hygiene, feeding, dressing, physical mobility and exercise, communication, taking oral medication and changing dressings;
• positioning, lifting and turning patients and transporting them in wheelchairs or mobile beds;
• maintaining hygiene standards around patients by cleaning their rooms and changing bed linen;
• giving simple massages and applying other non-pharmacological pain relief measures, e.g. during pregnancy and labour;
• observing patients' condition, reactions and behaviour and reporting problems to health professionals.
• Examples of occupations in this unit group:
• Sick-nurse (patient carer)
• Orderly
• Hygienist