Health Care Assistants Graduate

A group of Waikato DHB health care assistants (HCAs) graduated with a Level 3 National Certificate in Health, Disability and Aged Support last week.

The graduates are mainly from Waikato Hospital's internal medicine and speciality surgery services, with one from High Dependency Unit (HDU), one from the hospital's Transit Lounge and one from Women's Outpatient service.

They are the second group of health care assistants to graduate at Health Waikato with this qualification and the first to be entirely trained and assessed by DHB nurses, Colleen Mellsop, nurse coordinator for health care assistant training and nurse educators Jane Widdowson and Lyn MacLeod.

The health care assistants successfully completed the qualification in six months and for many of them it was the first study they had undertaken since leaving school.

Feedback from the clinical areas is very positive and it is reported that nursing staff have noticed a change in the way the trained health care assistants are working as part of the health care team.

Another 25 health care assistants commenced training this month and it is anticipated that 50 people across Health Waikato facilities will complete the qualification each year.

The training is led by the DHB's Nursing and Midwifery Professional Development Unit.

Background

Health care assistants perform delegated patient care duties and housekeeping duties under the direction and supervision of a registered nurse or other health care professional, and their focus is on patient comfort. Although they are not responsible for decision making in patient care, planning or evaluation of care, health care assistants are a much valued part of the patient care team.

Benefits of the training include:
• improved patient safety and patient outcomes
• transferable skills for health care assistants that can lead to professional development or career pathways
• a more flexible and effective workforce.

Photo: The September 2012 graduates.
Front row: Colleen Mellsop (nurse coordinator), Andrea Campbell, Bronwyn Dickie, Seema Grace, Odette Young, Jenny Hughes, Margie Thomson, Lyn MacLeod (nurse educator)
Second row: Sally Westrupp, Dianne Hillgrove, Sharon Fyfe, Leeann Ash-Taratoa, Helen Miller, Shelley Croad, Jane Widdowson (nurse educator), Kim Cox.
Back row: Tangi Mauroa, Asish Lal, John Voschezand, Tammy Stuart, Margaret Ferris.

Missing: Lance Lyden, TinaMaree Matthews, Glenys Miller, Tony White, Diane Dawson.

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About Waikato District Health Board and Health Waikato:

Waikato DHB is responsible for planning, funding and providing quality health and disability support services for the 372,865 people living in the Waikato DHB region. It has an annual turnover of $1.2 billion and employs more than 6000 people.

Health Waikato is the DHB’s main provider of hospital and health services with an annual budget of more than $701 million and 5238 staff. It has six groups across five hospital sites, three primary birthing units, two continuing care facilities and 20 community bases offering a comprehensive range of primary, secondary and tertiary health services.

A wide range of independent providers deliver other Waikato DHB-funded health services - including primary health, pharmacies and community laboratories.

ENDS