Being a care worker is a responsible job as you’re dealing with people who need assistance with their day-to-day living needs. These people may be those who have come out of hospital with a recent injury or procedure and are finding it tough to perform everyday tasks or it can consist of people such as seniors who need an extra helping hand in getting daily tasks completed because it’s no longer as easy for them to do so, becoming a struggle. This means upholding high standards of dignity and respect, as well as being compassionate towards the patient or client so that they feel heard, understood and truly cared about. If you’re thinking of going into the care field, you might have wondered what are the main duties and responsibilities of a care worker? In this post, we share some of the most common ones to help you make the right choice for your future.
Assisting with day-to-day living
One of the main duties of a care assistant is to help people with their day-to-day living as they’re either no longer able to do it on their own, there’s no one else to take care of them on a more regular basis or they just need an extra helping hand. These activities include aspects such as:
Washing and dressing: a home care worker’s duties may include helping the patient with washing and dressing. When mobility is an issue or they face challenges in getting tasks done that they would have been able to take care of on their own before, an extra helping hand is needed. This is why a home care worker will help with showering and bathing, toileting, basic hygiene and dressing to be ready for the day that’s to come.
Meal times: another aspect of a care worker’s duties includes helping with meal times. This may range from making meals, setting the table, ensuring that the meal is consumed, washing and tidying up afterwards and anything related to meal times.
Physical activities: a further element to the job may involve helping patients perform physical activities such as gentle exercise routines, going for walks or helping around with physiotherapy, in such events. Such activities are crucial for their overall physical and mental well being and they’re a crucial part of life that leads to more longevity.
Social activities: the role of a home care worker may also involve helping with social activities. This may mean going to visit clubs such as social clubs, book clubs and more to simply assisting the patient get to a meeting spot where they can meet with friends and loved ones. It could also mean companionship and care, whether you sit down to reminisce over days gone by or play a game of cards, sometimes all that’s needed is a friendly face around to ensure that loneliness does not set in.
Mobility: since mobility becomes more and more challenging as one gets older, it is crucial for a care assistant to help with mobility as well. This may mean accompanying the patient on bus rides, driving them to certain destinations or locations (if called for and part of the responsibilities of a care assistant) as well as helping them get around town to complete important functions or simply to have a nice time out.
Attending appointments: attending appointments is another element of a home care assistant’s job. In many cases, these will be doctor’s appointments and basic medical checks or other appointments that are vital and necessary for the patient’s well being.
Shopping and money management: a home care worker can also help with shopping and money management. This requires a particularly high level of maths literacy and responsibility as you’re essentially dealing with someone else’s funds. Shopping for the week or for the day ahead is also important as you’ll be selecting items that the patient wants and needs in their home, along with the fact that you’ll have to carry them to the home and pack them away for future use.
Are you looking for a home care assistan job in the UK?
A home care job is one of the most rewarding jobs out there. And the beauty of it is that it doesn’t require a high level of qualifications and skills. What it does require are personal qualities and characteristics such as being trustworthy, honest, transparent, reliable, punctual, friendly, compassionate and understanding, amongst others.
While a home care job offers quite a lot of flexibility in terms of time – some patients may only require that you visit them for an hour a day while others may require full-time live-in care – it’s also a lot of responsibility as you’re going to be dealing with people in need who are frail on a regular basis.
Therefore, being prepared for this will help you on your journey to becoming a home care worker and succeed at it.
