Life at Henshaws College: Healthcare Assistant

We have a fantastic clinical team here at Henshaws Specialist College, who support students with their medical needs. Becky is one of the newest members of the team, who tells us more about her role as Healthcare Assistant in our latest blog.

Meet Becky

Hello, my name is Becky and I am a Healthcare Assistant at Henshaws Specialist College. I recently started this new role after working as part of the care team for around 10 years.

My job primarily involves supporting our residential students overnight.

Starting a night shift

I arrive on shift at 9:45pm and receive a handover for our clinical residential students. If they are still awake, I go and say hello before they settle to sleep.

I work as part of a team of support workers to ensure the student’s personal care and complex health needs are met overnight. This could be supporting the student directly myself, or assisting care staff to confidently and competently meet the student’s care needs.

Training others

We have resources available in our residential houses so I am able to spend time helping care staff to complete their competency training for various interventions. This may include gastrostomy care, oral suction, oxygen therapy, non-invasive ventilation, cough assist and nebulisers.

Staff undertake theoretical training and an assessment of their knowledge of clinical intervention. They will then have the opportunity to witness and assimilate practice. This is followed by observations where they will begin the interventions themselves under supervision. Once they are confident and competent, one of our registered nurses will approve them as proficient.

I find this area of the job really rewarding. It’s great to be able to offer  support and development to the night staff team.

Safety, screening and monitoring

Depending on the night of the week and which residential students we have staying over, I may also carry out Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Audits. This supports the Quality Assurance Cycle and assists with developing action plans to help improve practice where needed.

The role of a Healthcare Assistant also includes carrying out health screening. We complete nutritional, skin integrity and clinical observations. These are reviewed regularly to monitor for any changes, and any concerns are escalated to our registered nurses.

Handing over to the day team

Some mornings I help the care team to support students with their personal care and any clinical interventions. This may include medication, nebuliser or feed via peg as part of the student’s morning routine.

Lastly, I  ensure that a thorough handover has been given to staff coming on shift for the day.