Hiring People for Health and Social Care Jobs

Health and social care jobs require a higher level of personnel experience than the jobs at the building material store require. Health and social care jobs involve the licensed professionals that will be working with people who are in need of doctors, nurses, nurse’s aids, rehabilitation services, and therapists.

Health and social care jobs cannot be filled by just anyone that answers an employee needed sign. The people that work these types of jobs must be compassionate individuals that are able to empathize with the patient they are dealing with. This goes for the people that have to go to school and receive licenses to hold the health and social care jobs positions they apply for and it counts for the people that apply to sit with an ailing person while their family is away from home.

Individuals applying for the positions of caring for or working with the elderly need to pass background checks to make sure they are not criminals that might would take advantage of the elderly person. These background checks can be done by the company that is looking to hire the employee or they can be done by the recruitment agency the company hires to find appropriate candidates.

The recruitment agencies that oversee the application processes for these types of positions will likely go ahead and do the drug and alcohol screening on all possible employees before they send them to the company for a final interview. This will assure the company that when they start to interview the candidate they can hire them on the spot if they really like them.

The recruiters that look for employee and employer match ups hope that the individuals they send to a company will be liked and hired immediately. It is the goal of these professionals to find candidates to hire that are qualified for the work so they are not wasting the time of the company by sending over people who are less than qualified.

Of course qualifications are not all determined by the educational background the person has or even by the work experience they have. Some of the things that make a person qualified include the area in which they live. The company will want to know that the people they hire will be on time for work and they live close enough that if a need arises they can come in early or they can stay late. People with long commutes are not as flexible as people who live closer to their work places.

The amount of enthusiasm for the job at hand will also be considered as a part of the qualifications for people who wish to work in health related industries. They will be working with the sick and the elderly so their outlook on life and their enthusiasm will reflect on the way they make their patients feel. In the health care industry you must be able to show a level of concern without becoming emotionally engaged with the client.

Health and Social Care – A Recession Proof Career!

Whatever your current situation, whether you are seeking promotion, looking to change career, about to start a new job, taking your first steps into teaching or management, the Health and Social Care sector has something to offer you.

If you have been looking for a job, full time or part time to raise income for your family or build a career around your children, there is room for you in health and social care, the job loss within this sector is very low.

What exactly do I need to do?

The starting point is you need to discover your interest and be willing to develop yourself. There are many aspects within the health and social care sector therefore you will need to decide what client group you would prefer to work with – children, young adults, elderly, individuals with disabilities (physical, cognitive and learning disabilities), specialized care ( stroke, mental disorders, dementia etc)

You will also need to decide the kind of environment – hospitals, care homes, individual homes or education and training.

Once you have made your decision, consider where you are now and what you need to do to get to where you want to be. In most cases your experience and training will count and you need to get both but for some it is how to package their existing experience and training to get the job they desire – You need to improve on areas such as CV writing and interview skills.

Here is a breakdown of courses that you can do to move to the next level.

NVQ Health and Social Care Level 1- This is usually a two weeks training that introduces you to the principles of Health and Social Care. You do not need to be in employment to do this training as it is meant to give you a fundamental understanding of the role of a care worker or support worker. This is the first building block if you are new to Health and Social Care. This course comprises of a one week workshop experience and the second week is a practical experience within a health and social care environment. Afterwards you receive a certificate of attendance. Some of the topics usually covered are:

Basic nursing procedures
Communication
Health and Safety at Work
Moving and handling procedures
Incontinence care
First Aid
Infection Control
Basic food hygiene
Safeguarding and protecting individuals
Confidentiality
Report writing
Most employers will require you present certificates of attendance for some mandatory training in healthcare such as Manual Handling Training, First Aid Training & Basic Food Hygiene. By Law, when you get a job your employer would organize an induction which would provide you with information specific to your role.

Pay rates for this level range from £5 – £8 per hour depending on the employer

NVQ Level 2 – This is the ideal level for you if you are working in Health and Social Care, providing support to professionals, carrying out clinical care, health or personal care to individuals in a hospital or community- based health care setting. It really doesn’t matter if you are new to the job you can enroll on this course. These days if you have been working without an NVQ or other qualification you will be advised by your employer to consider enrolling on NVQ 2 as you may not be allowed to keep your job from the year 2010. Many other employers would only offer jobs to care workers with a minimum of NVQ 2.

This course comprises of 4 mandatory units and 2 optional units based on a skill scan. The mandatory units are:

HSC21- Communication and record keeping

HSC22- Health and Safety at Work

HSC23 – Develop your practice

HSC24 – Protection of Individuals

You will be allowed to choose your 2 optional units from a list based on your skills and job role. This is a very interesting course and you will find it easy if you have been working according to your organizational policies and procedures. Having NVQ 2 Adults would qualify you to work with all groups of adults although you may need to attend trainings in specialized areas coupled with your existing experience, for example if you currently work with the elderly and wish to work with individuals with learning disability, your NVQ 2 adults is relevant except that you will need some additional training which are short courses.

Pay rates for this level range from £6.50 – £10 depending on the employer

NVQ Level 3- At Level 3, the Health and Social Care NVQ has two pathways: “Adults” and “Children and Young People”. This qualification is designed for workers delivering care and support often without direct supervision or probably working on their own in an individual’s own home.

If you are undertaking some supervisory or developmental responsibilities for other care workers or you are involved in other specialist tasks with some degree of responsibility or independence e.g. administration of medicines, NVQ 3 in health and social care is relevant to you.

Common job roles that would qualify you to do the NVQ 3 are senior care workers, team leaders, domiciliary care workers, home care organizers and community support workers.

You will be required to complete 4 mandatory units and 4 optional units based on a skills scan. The mandatory units are:

HSC31 – Promoting Communication

HSC32 – Promoting Health and Safety

HSC33 – Reflect on and develop your Practice

HSC34/ HSC35 – Protecting children (HSC34) or Adults (HSC35)

You will be allowed to choose your 4 optional units from a list based on your skills and job role. This is also a very interesting course and you will find it easy if you have been practicing within health and social care.

There is also a possible progression unto management and teaching roles which requires you achieve qualifications at Level 3 or Level 4. Do you want to know what the A1 Award is about? Or

Applying for Health and Social Care Jobs

Applying for health and social care jobs is one of the smartest things you can do in today’s slow economy. Health and social care jobs fall into some of the categories of employment that will always be in need of workers because they will never run out of clients. You have undoubtedly heard the old adage that a liquor store is busy when times are good, and a liquor store is busy when times are bad, so a fool proof way to make a living is to own a liquor store. Well, when you deal with human ailments and human elements and no matter how poor the economy gets there will still be humans and they will still get sick.

To apply for health and social care jobs you can go to all of the hospitals, clinics, doctor offices, labs, dentist’s offices, therapist’s offices, and other medical establishments in your town. You will manage to get your application into about one half of the places that hire health and social care jobs applicants by using this method of job searching.

Health and social care jobs are the ones held by therapists, nurses, the nursing assistants, the doctor, the dentist, the hygienist, and the many other licensed professionals that take care of humans when they are sick. These jobs are also filled by people who sit with the elderly while their family members have to go to jobs and have to go to other engagements. They do the laundry for the elderly and they visit with them and cook their meals.

Recruitment agencies often hire these professionals for the companies that hire them. A recruiting agency has more time to devote to finding the right person to fill the opening rather than having to hire someone that may not be the best choice for the opening.

Recruitment agencies will take care of the background checks that are necessary before a person can be hired to work in these types of positions. The recruiters also see to it that the drug screening is done and that records of any licenses that the people hold are obtained and proven. Licenses for people that do this type of work need to be redone every couple of years. Just because a person went to nursing school does not mean that they have kept up with their continuing education credits or kept their license current and good.

When a recruiting agency finds an employee that they think will make the company that is hiring a good employee they will set up a final interview with the human resources agent in the company that has the job opening. Their main goal is to be sending the right person to the right job so that the company gets the help they need and do not have to turn the people down and keep having more people brought around.

Working with the elderly and with sick people will be a rewarding career, but it can also be a challenging career.

Different Career Paths in the Health and Social Care Industry

Health and social care relates to services which involves helping and assisting those who need extra care and support due to disability, old age, illness and poverty. Local authorities and private organisations with an aim to help them lead a normal life and keep their independence and dignity provide these services.

There are a range of vocational and academic courses like GNVQ, A-Level and S/NVQ, which can be pursued to qualify as a care provider. Subjects involved in health and social care studies are sociology, biology, law, ethics and nutrition that cover every aspect of issues that carers deal with. Those who pursue this line of study get hands on experience through work placements alongside their studies in nurseries; care homes, hospitals and other related establishments.

Various jobs in the health and social care industry are categorised into:

Care Assistant Jobs – Varies according to the nature of the job and is further classified into-

Personal Care Assistant or PCA – Assist people with disability and illness in their day-to-day activities within or outside their homes.

Emergency Care Assistant or ECA – Assist qualified paramedics and medical technicians in accidents and emergency’s. Responds to emergency calls and usually the first responder who observes patients vital signs and take necessary information at the scene.

Ambulance Care Assistant or ACA – Assist in transporting patients to and from the hospital and also admits, transfers and discharges patients. Helps patients to get to their appointments and make sure that they are settled after transporting them back home. Maintaining constant contact with control room when out and about and updating the team with any changes. Responsible for routine check-up and maintenance of allotted hospital vehicle.

Care Home Jobs – Duties involve coordinating care and resources, house cleaning, maintaining personal hygiene, making meals and health improvement activities and exercises.

Community Care Jobs – Provide aid and access to patients based on their personal care plan. Assist in personal hygiene, toilet functions, prescriptions, diet monitoring, attending medical appointments, walking, and exercising, shopping, pension collection, reading, writing and providing companionship.

Nursing Jobs – This role involves a range of duties and a broad scope of responsibility. The job involves working closely with the health care team and administering the prescribed treatment, medication and care given by physicians. Since the role involves close contact and interaction with patients, nurses are expected to have a calming personality and the ability to aid in the recovery process.

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