Assistant Nurse Responsibilities
The health-care industry is growing by leaps and bounds. If you are thinking of becoming an assistant nurse which has huge demand, it is a good career option that gives you immense job satisfaction. It is necessary therefore to get an in-depth understanding of the assistant nurse responsibilities.
For becoming a nurse assistant you really need to be a person who is committed and dedicated to the work as well as has a liking to serve to the society. As a nurse assistant the responsibilities include assisting and providing basic patient care under the supervision of the head nurses. They also assist the the patients with their daily activities and perform a number of non-technical duties. They also perform other work related duties.
Key Responsibilities of an Assistant Nurse
The role of a nurse assistant may vary according to the center where he/she may be working. The opportunities exist in hospitals, old age homes, orphanages, as a personal caretaker and in some cases even the schools or educational institutes may opt to employ the nurse assistant in case if there is any emergency. So let us see and study in detail the basic assistant nurse responsibilities. For better understanding the responsibilities have been divided in small sections:
- Movement of patients
- Normally the patients remain in involuntary position. Therefore it is the primary duty of the nurse assistant to assist the patient in moving to the different areas of the medical facility. Generally a patient needs to be transferred from bed to chair and the movement to various areas can be taken care of with the help of a wheel chair
- They are responsible for changing the position of the bed according to the needs of the patient
- It involves application of anti-embolic stockings to the patient
- Daily Routine Activities
- It is the duty of the assistant nurse to help the patient with his bathing, showering and bed washes
- Taking care of his overall hygiene by brushing the patients teeth or denture and assisting him with his dressing and grooming. General face cleaning, nail and hair care of the patients, especially facial shaving of male patients excluding the pre-operative shaving is an equally important part of the nurse assistant's duty.
- Toileting Duties
- The most crucial part of his/her duties includes assisting the patients to toilet. The patients who are bedridden and are completely immovable need to be given bedpans or urinals.
- Recording the measurement of urine, emptying the bedpans, collecting the samples for urine collection. Performing routine urine analysis and reporting any kind of abnormalities regarding the frequency, color, or odor of urine
- Keeping a close eye on the bowel motions and reporting regarding the constipation or consistency of faeces
- Preparation of Meals
- Arranging the mobile tables, opening the packets, cutting up food, positioning the patients in proper position for feeding and making the arrangements for water refilling are some of the duties involved in preparation of meals
- Environment Related Work
- Cleaning of rooms, urinals, wash basins and bedpans
- Implementation of standard infection control techniques, keeping the patient's surroundings clean, neat and tidy
- General duties
- Cleaning the beds of discharged patients
- Providing mental support to the patients
- Recording and monitoring the vital signs like pulse, blood pressure, temperature, respiration, etc.
- Handling documents
- Maintaining accurate data and information in the form of charts, recording the progress, and completing the patient documentation, reporting all the incidents related to the complaints of the patient and relatives
Essential Skills for an Assistant Nurse
- Good listening and communication skills to understand the patients concerns and needs. In short, he should be an empathetic communicator
- Good understanding and grasping power to follow the routine instructions
- The nurse assistant should have good physical strength as well as should be mentally strong and alert
- Should be willing to help and seek co-operation from the patients
Educational Qualifications
A general certification or nursing program or diploma is sufficient to grab your dream job.
Work Schedule
Though the timings are fixed, the nurse assistants may be called in cases of emergency leading to hectic work schedule.
After handling the assistant nurse responsibilities successfully you can definitely get promoted to a higher position by pursuing further education.
