Health Care Assistant Volunteer

Willen Hospice

Health Care Assistant Volunteers

If you are looking for some voluntary experience to support your application for further education on a medical related course then this may be the opportunity for you!

Health Care Assistant (HCA) volunteers work every day in the In-Patient Unit for a 4 hour session between 4pm and 8pm and also at the weekends between 9am and 1pm. Students are offered one session a week for 6 months starting in March or September each year. Applicants must be 17 by the time they start to volunteer.

Main purpose of the role:

To assist the nursing staff, under instruction, in the delivery of general care given to in-patient.

Key Tasks:
At each shift volunteers are likely to undertake a variety of tasks depending on the nature of the patients and the care they require. The following is a sample of the type of tasks that could be undertaken in a shift
• Preparing patients for and assisting serving breakfasts, lunches and suppers
• Making beds
• Taking laundry bags to laundry, loading and unloading washing machines and dryers
• Assisting nursing staff with hygiene needs of patient but not moving and handling
• Walking patients to bathrooms and toilets
• Chatting, reading, jigsaws, assisting with writing etc
• Reporting any changes or concerns regarding patients to permanent members of the team

The Hospice receives a large number of applications for these roles and not every student can be offered a volunteer session. To make the selection process as fair and transparent as possible the following guidelines should help students in the application process.

Applications

Applications are encouraged from all sectors of the community wanting to gain experience in a Health Care setting and looking towards studying a medical or nursing related further education course. A HCA application form can be downloaded from this website and should be submitted to the Voluntary Services Department. Submitting a CV on its own will not be considered to be an application. Applications are considered in date order and applications received after the cut off date will be put towards the next intake.

All applicants must submit 2 personal referee details on their application forms and complete a CRB check at the interview stage. Permission should be sought from Referees to use them before submitting the application to ensure a timely response. Disclosing a criminal conviction does not automatically bar an applicant from the process. Non disclosure of a conviction will almost certainly result in being removed from the selection process.

Applicants will not be disadvantaged if they do not have any medical or voluntary experience it is more important that they can demonstrate maturity and show potential for working within an emotionally charged and challenging environment.

Induction and Training

All HCA volunteers must attend an Induction session held on a Saturday morning prior to starting. Dates of the induction sessions will be available at the interview stage. This induction session includes information on the working of the Hospice, the role of the HCA, infection control, kitchen and laundry working practices and general volunteer induction information. Volunteers will also receive ongoing training by the Nursing staff as they undertake their role.

Volunteer expectations

Students should be aware that these roles are not shadowing Doctors and are not an opportunity to spend time in every department of the Hospice. These are working roles where volunteers will be able to work alongside the nursing team spending time with patients and gaining experience working in a challenging and emotionally charged environment.

Next deadline for applications:

HCA Volunteer Application form 

Friday 14th June 2013 for a Sept 2013 start