My Job As A Healthcare Support Worker In A&E

Lewis talks about why he likes the challenges, variety and fast paced nature of his job as a Healthcare Support Worker in A&E.

Topics covered in this article

Introduction

Why I Chose A&E

The Differences Of Working On A General Ward And An A&E Ward

A Typical Day On An A&E Ward

A Department Where You Can Grow And Learn

Working As Part Of A Team To Support Each Other

Challenges Of Working On The A&E Ward

Advice On Building Your Confidence First and Career Progression

Conclusion

Introduction

My name is Lewis. And I'm a Healthcare Support Worker in A&E.

My healthcare career started shortly after I finished my level three extended diploma in health and social care. This course allowed me to gain access to the Healthcare Support Worker program and also to apply to university.

When I first started as a Healthcare Support Worker I was working on the wards, which was a really good start for me because it gave me basic knowledge and basic understanding on how to look after the patient and how to support nursing staff in completing their jobs.

Why I Chose A&E

Unfortunately, the wards were not accepting enough for me and I needed something to give me a little bit more of a push to keep me engaged in my workplace.

This is when I started with the A&E team in the hospital as a Healthcare Support Worker in A&E. You're expected to do the exact same thing as you would on the ward.

Okay, you need to maintain your patients. You need to look after your patients. You need to observe your patients and you need to work with the nurses and the doctors to make sure these patients are having the best care possible.

There may be some differences between being a Healthcare Support Worker on A&E and the wards, but generally it’s pretty similar.

The Differences Of Working On A General Ward And An A&E Ward

The biggest difference for me is that you don't know your patients onwards.

Usually, patients are there for quite a long period of time. You can get to know them quite in depth like, you know, how many teas they like in a day, and how many sugars they like in a tea? You know what they like for dinner? You know, everything about this patient, but in A&E normally you don't even have enough time with the patient to sort of gather these things.

You need to establish what's wrong with the patient and what works with the nurses to maintain their care as best as possible. So we can sort of direct them into the correct place which would be then back into the wards or back home into the community as a Healthcare Support Worker.

Your day in A&E can be very varied.

A Typical Day On An A&E Ward

Generally this is how your day goes at seven o'clock. You start your hand over for your patients on your designated areas. You may be placed in multiple areas within the department but usually you'll be placed within one section.

These sections can include a major department like Resus, Paediatric department, and a Minors department.

Personally, I like working in every area but especially the Minors department at the start of the shift.

I like to make sure that my patients are first of all, okay. I go in and I check, and I say “How are you this morning? How are you feeling?’ Is there anything I can do for you?” This sort of creates that bond with the patient as they know who you are.

You introduce yourself and say, “hello, my name is”, and they know that they can turn to you if they need anything. If they're in pain, they can tell you.

So then, you know once you've introduced yourself to your patients you need to start going around and do basic observations. Okay? So your blood pressure, your RESPs, your oxygen saturation, the temperature, just basic things that you need to write down at the start of the shift to sort of evaluate whether this patient is gonna need any advanced care from yourself, or the nursing team or the doctors.

Once you've done this for all your patients you may have 6, 7, 8 patients depending on the department.

It's usually around, I would say half to nine o'clock which is perfect timing for the breakfast trolley. I'm sure the patients will be extremely happy about that. So that's another role as a Healthcare Support Worker in A&E, feeding the patients usually on the wards.

There is catering staff who go around and take the orders and feed the patients.

But in A&E at least in my health board, as a Healthcare Support Worker that is sort of part of your responsibility.

So another thing you need to think about when feeding patients is whether ‘they're nil by mouth’ for whatever reason, for example, if a patient has come in with a stroke, they may need a swallow assessment to make sure they've got the facilities and their capabilities to swallow food.

A Department Where You Can Grow And Learn

These are things that will come with time and come with experience.

There’s nothing's just gonna happen overnight.

And this is the great part of working in A&E is you learn things that you would never think you'd be capable of, but it's a really good department to work in throughout the day then you're just maintaining your patients just the same as you would on the ward.

You need to maintain this ‘skin integrity’. Okay. So that's really important.

You don't want any patients to add to injury sort of thing, and gain pressure sores.

You need to maintain personal care just as you would on the ward, obviously in A&E, there's a lot of elderly patients. You need to make sure that they are off their pressure areas. If so, you need to order things like a mattresses to sort of maintain the skin integrity.

As I said you also need to do regular observations throughout the day. For example, in the health ward, I work in, once they come into A&E you're expected to do hourly observations on the patients for the first four hours of them being there.

This just allows you to get a general picture of the patient's condition and what sort of care they need whether that would be a little bit more ‘one to one care’ or whether they are nice and stable and you can leave them for a little bit longer.

As a Healthcare Support Worker in A&E you're also expected to transfer patients to and from departments.

So if a patient needs an x-ray or CT scan, or MRI you're expected to sort of take that patient from collecting their data from the cubicle etc, just to sort of speed up the process because these things take time.

Working As Part Of A Team To Support Each Other

They have multiple investigations at one time and we sort of need to make that as quick as possible so we can make a decision on that a patient's care.

By doing that, you're supporting the doctors and you're supporting the nurses.

You're making their lives easier which is a big part of our role in A&E is just support, because it's so stressful. And it's so busy that members of the staff need that sort of backbone.

As a Healthcare Support Worker, that is your job.

So as a Healthcare Support Worker with A&E, I think there's many, many likes, and yeah, there are some dislikes as well, but I think if you enjoy it and you love your work then those likes just totally outweigh the dislikes.

So as a Healthcare Support Worker with A&E, I think there's many, many likes, and yeah, there are some dislikes as well, but I think if you enjoy it and you love your work then those likes just totally outweigh the dislikes.

I love the fast paced environment which keeps me going throughout the day.

My day literally feels as though I've been in work for an hour because your shift goes so fast. I love to help people. And I'm sure you do too, as Healthcare Support Workers. And this is a massive part in A&E.

My day literally feels as though I've been in work for an hour because your shift goes so fast. I love to help people. And I'm sure you do too, as Healthcare Support Workers. And this is a massive part in A&E.

You know sometimes you're dealing with patients and it's their worst day of their life.

You know, even if it is something like they've broken their arm or they've broken their leg this can be a massive effect on their life.

If you can make that little change to somebody and you know, make them a cup of tea it is so basic but it is very rewarding for some people. Their likes and dislikes would obviously be different with working in A&E, it's quite physically demanding.

So, you need to make sure that you are in good working order and you're gonna be able to keep up with the pace because it is absolutely constant from the moment you start to the moment you finish.

But this is what we are here for, the healthcare of patients, and if it's a busy day you've just got to crack on with it and just get your head down and make sure those patients are being looked after.

But this is what we are here for, the healthcare of patients, and if it's a busy day you've just got to crack on with it and just get your head down and make sure those patients are being looked after.

Challenges Of Working On The A&E Ward

It also comes with challenges as with every job.

Obviously it's quite difficult with the things you see coming into A&E, I don't want to mention anything specifically, cause obviously it's like about confidentiality and things, but you know, you do see some nasty things coming in and you need to be paid for that because otherwise it can really affect you.

You need to sort of take it in your stride and to look at it as experience, you know, you are gonna learn so many new things in A&E that you would never learn.

You are seeing everything.

You see general medicine, you see surgical, you see orthopedics, you see absolutely anything, gynaecology, you learn everything.

Advice On Building Your Confidence First and Career Progression

Which is why it's a really good way to sort of progress a career.

But as a bit of advice from somebody obviously already working in A&E.

I would say to start on the wards, get your basic understanding of how to look after your patient, learn how to do observations.

So you're confident you can do really with your eyes closed, work on documentation, on pressure areas and making sure you're writing everything down as you go along. And these will, these things will sort of help you start as a Healthcare Support Worker in A&E and support your future career.

Conclusion

Becoming a Healthcare Support Worker requires someone who likes variety, enjoys a fast paced role and wants to work in supportive wider team. Starting off by learning the basics on a general ward and gaining confidence can set you up for a very rewarding role and good career progression.