Blog

Jun 22

What is Care Support Work? 4 Reasons Why You Should Care

Have you completed your general education? Can you communicate skillfully? Are you willing to help people? If you have answered ‘yes’ to all these questions, then you are an excellent candidate for care support work.

What is care support work?

Care support is one of the most crucial aspects of care in a health facility. Duties that come with the position can range from offering emotional and practical support to patients, to assisting qualified nurses carry out medical procedures.

Patient care roles are pivotal in the healthcare system because caregivers tend to provide the closest point of contact with patients. Doctors can attend to patients in an entire ward and may not be able to focus on individual patients at all times. That is where support workers step in.

How is care support work different from health assistant work?

While there is a difference between the two, these terms are not completely unrelated.

Health assistants are more involved in the personal care of patients by helping them with activities such as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, meal preparation, and any other activity that promotes patient dignity and independence.

A support worker is more inclined to work with patients with challenging behaviours such as mental illnesses and learning and eating disorders. A care support giver can take care of the personal needs of patients as well as offer companionship, guidance, encouragement, and supervision.

Other duties of a support worker include supporting patients to learn new skills and pursue their hobbies and understanding and adapting to a patient’s communication needs.

Why Pursue a Course in Care Support Work?

Why would you want to become a care support worker? Below are 5 reasons why you should consider it:

  1. You gain relevant skills that help you move up the career ladder

If you are focused on having a career in nursing, taking some online mandatory training for care staff is recommended.

Care support gives you a strong ground for nursing work, enabling you to train faster as you will be building on your skills.

  1. It is among the most fulfilling jobs

If you have a heart for people and have been looking for a way to change lives, care support work will help you achieve that.

You will be directly involved in transforming patients’ lives through personal and emotional care. Seeing people make progress, recover, and pursue their dreams can be very fulfilling.

  1. You can say goodbye to boring work environments

No day is the same when you are doing support work. You will meet all manner of people and work with professionals in different ranks. Every day is a learning opportunity.

  1. The pay is attractive

Care support workers earn an average of £17000 a year. The pay is higher if you are working out of normal hours such as weekends, overtime, and some shifts.

Final Words

Care work in the health care sector is extremely lucrative. Many patients require specialized care and professionals need assistants to help them carry out their duties efficiently. Why not consider taking a care support course today?

Jun 16

5 Things You Need to Know About Mandatory Training

As a nurse, your safety as well as the safety and welfare of patients, partially depend on you. That is why getting all the right skills is crucial. The right knowledge will help you to deal with common situations that arise in the workplace.

If you want to kick start your nursing career, there is one term that you need to be familiar with—mandatory training. What do you need to know about mandatory training for nurses?

Here are 5 things:

  1. What is Mandatory Training?

This is the kind of training without which you cannot work in an organization. Mandatory training ensures that you can safely and effectively perform your duties in an organization. It includes training for record-keeping, conflict handling, consent, incident reporting, hand hygiene, and more.

  1. Employer Obligations for Training

If you are employed, your employer can pay for your training which will count as a part of your work schedule. Whether or not your employer pays for your training will depend on the framework under which they are operating.

The NHS provides training to its employees to meet certain standards for better health, risk management, and quality care inspection.

Your employer may be obliged to provide training based on factors such as legal and country-specific obligations, the riskiness of the working environment, and the need for equality.

  1. Mandatory Training Updates

Mandatory training for nurses should be and is updated regularly. In most cases, these updates are annual.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) does not dictate how often training should take place. Nevertheless, it requires nurses to have the latest skills. Your employer is free to set training schedules under which you should comply.

  1. The Difference between Mandatory and Statutory Training

Statutory training is that which is required by law, where employers must provide training to meet the requirements of particular regulations.

For example, to meet the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act, employees need training in areas such as manual handling and fire safety awareness and updates; and basic risk assessment. Other areas of training under the Act include reporting injuries, diseases, and dangerous occurrences (RIDDOR) and the control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH).

At times, you will come across terms such as ‘essential’ and ‘compulsory’ training. Employers can use these terms to describe both mandatory and statutory training.

  1. The Importance of Mandatory Training

Apart from ensuring a safe working environment for yourself and effective care for patients, mandatory training also helps to:

  • Create a work culture that encourages equality and better working relationships. Training also helps you feel more confident when you are performing your duties.
  • Build professionalism, for example in training related to confidentiality.

Final Words

Whether you are joining the nursing profession or are already practising, mandatory training is crucial to effective performance at work. The training should be a continuous process, ensuring you keep up with the latest updates so that you can keep safe and perform your duties ethically and professionally at all times.

Jun 16

Quick Guide: Key Aspects of an Infection Control and Prevention Course

It is important that everyone involved in the medical field undertakes an infection control and prevention course. Preventing infection is something everyone can do even though it can be at different levels. A nurse at a health facility can play a big role in preventing and controlling infectious diseases.

Although the infection control and prevention course may have different levels, certain elements will be taught across the board. Let us consider those key elements.

Policy Guidelines of Infection Control

There is a set policy that includes minimum guidelines for the prevention and control of infection. This must be taught at every level, whether it is a short certificate training or a Ph.D. The guidelines need to be followed, and so everyone must know and understand them. This makes it easier for them to follow the guidelines.

How Infection is Spread?

In order to control infection, it is necessary to know how it is spread. This may be a wide topic considering that there are different ways infection can be spread. Infection within a medical ward would be spread differently from infection in a laundry room or kitchen.

A common feature though is the microorganisms responsible for causing infection. Everyone needs to learn how they behave and how they are carried around within a medical setting as well as in communities.

Hand Hygiene

The hands may be the biggest vector of infection. People touch different surfaces and pick up microorganisms that cause infection that they can transfer to other individuals. Control and infection training focuses on proper hand hygiene. People are taught how to wash hands effectively, how often to wash their hands as well as how to encourage other people to wash their hands. They also learn to avoid touching possible contaminants like doors.

Understanding Infections Spread by Health Care Personnel

Learning this will help see the need for practices like hand washing as well as other guidelines that are taught within the course. Healthcare personnel account for a significant rate of infections spread so they need to understand these infections and how they can prevent and control them.

Disinfection

One of the ways to control and prevent infection is to disinfect surfaces and equipment. Everyone working within a health care setting has a responsibility to ensure proper disinfection. While the cleaner may do the actual disinfection, the nurse may need to supervise the process and although the nurse may be responsible for disinfecting equipment, the doctor needs to know how to manage equipment that has not been disinfected yet. By disinfecting, infection is significantly controlled.

Use of Personal Protection Equipment

Part of controlling infection involves being safe from infection. To be able to do that, medical staff need to be familiar with personal protective equipment. They should be able to identify them, know what they are used for, and know the right way to use the equipment. They also learn what to do with PPE once they are done with them.

There is a lot more that medical personnel can learn about preventing infection. An organization can determine what is relevant to its staff and then have them take up that particular course. Individuals too can determine what will help their career as well as protect those in their care.

May 19
Trust in Nurses

5 Tips to Build Patients’ Trust in Nurses

Gaining the trust of patients is an important aspect of healthcare courses online. The lack of trust can hinder the provision of proper care for a patient so nurses need to learn how to gain trust. Since different factors can contribute to a lack of trust, the nurse must learn the different reasons that lead to mistrust.

Details of the reasons for mistrust are generally covered in the healthcare courses online. Here however are some tips that can help to build trust.

Dress Professionally

First impressions are important. When a patient sees you, they need to believe that you are indeed someone they can trust with their health and wellbeing. Wearing a nurse’s uniform is a great way to build trust. Most people will associate someone in that uniform as one who has received the right training and knows what they are doing.

Just wearing the uniform may not be enough, the uniform needs to be clean to create the right impression. Do not show up with blood-stained scrubs and think a patient will be comfortable around you.

Show Genuine Interest

The best way to begin working with a patient is to introduce yourself by name and then ask the patient for theirs. That already shows you want to know them. Go ahead to repeat the name and thereafter, always refer to them by name. There is something about people who know you by name that will make you more comfortable around them.

It may be hard to remember all the patients’ names so write down the name on the chart and ask them which name they are more comfortable being called by.

Be Respectful

At all times, show respect for the patient’s privacy as well as beliefs and practices. Find out what makes them uncomfortable and what does the opposite. The patient needs to feel like they are in a safe place and the person providing care for them is mindful of what they believe.

If there is a situation where they may need to get undressed for treatment, provide sufficient privacy to the patient.

Listen Actively

Some nurses may go about their duty like robots and not bother to take time and listen to their patients. Building trust requires active listening to the patient. Let them see that what they are saying is taken seriously and understood. Sometimes it may be a good idea to take a break from doing things like taking blood samples and whatever activity you are doing and look at the patient as they express themselves.

Knowing that they are being listened to will make the patient confident that their concerns will be addressed and that makes them trust the nurse.

Be Trustworthy

People trust people who act trustworthy. Being open and honest is one way that you can show you are trustworthy. Even in situations where what you might say may not be very pleasant, honesty must be maintained. Both the patient and their family will trust your word if you show honesty.

It is also important to keep your word. Do not promise to do something you know you will not do.

Building a relationship with patients can improve the recovery time and make it easier to administer treatment. It is therefore important to receive training in trust-building.

May 19
Healthcare Assistant Training Online courses

Why Should You Go For Online Healthcare Assistant Training Course?

You may be living in a place where the colleges are not good. Or, probably you are working full-time and cannot leave your job for pursuing a regular healthcare course. Whatever is the situation, you must go for Healthcare Assistant Training Online courses.

Online education is emerging as an increasingly chosen option for those people who have professional and personal responsibilities that cannot be quit. Healthcare Assistant Training Online course allows those students to learn by joining virtual lectures, chatting with students and teachers, asking questions to professors, taking virtual exams, etc. Other reasons why people take up an online course are as follows.

Flexibility

The biggest reason why people choose online courses is the flexibility offered. You may have to take care of an ailing family member or work full-time for survival. These responsibilities would not allow you to go for a regular course. You can learn from the online course as and when it is suitable for you. In the case of offline courses, you have to schedule your day according to the timings of the college. But in online learning, you can study at 12 midnight or early morning or even during short breaks at your job. So, there is immense flexibility.

Review Lectures

Some people struggle with concentrating in the classroom or are slow-learners. So, they are unable to grasp what is taught in an offline class and work hard after college to understand the concepts. In online learning, videos are provided to learners who can play them as many times as they want. This way, it is easier for them to learn.

Comfortable Learning

Many people lack the courage of asking questions in a classroom having 75 people. People with mental health issues, speech anxiety, and other issues find it difficult to clear their doubts during an offline lecture. But online platforms allow them to type questions and receive answers to even the silliest doubts. This way, they feel more comfortable.

Cost

If the place you are living in does not have good colleges and universities, going to another country or city for studies can be very expensive. You will have to not only bear the fees but also spend on living expenses. If you go for an online course, you will only have to pay the fees, which is generally lower than regular college fees.

Better Self-Discipline

When you study online, you have to be responsible for attending the lectures, submitting assignments, and making the most out of the course. Your friend would not be calling you to remind you about the upcoming deadline or exam. You have to manage everything on your own and this will definitely enhance self-discipline.

Conclusion

Online learning is more comfortable and flexible for students who cannot change their cities and countries. Students can review videos and study materials multiple times and, thus, can learn in a better way. For full-time professionals who are looking for a career change or want to advance their careers, going for an online course is more convenient.