Job description Personal Support Aide - Medical in the Southern Region

Find out what work is like for a personal support aide - medical in Canada. This work description is applicable to all Other assisting occupations in support of health services (NOC 33102).

Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates

Description

Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates assist nurses, hospital staff and physicians in the basic care of patients. They are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted care facilities for the elderly and other health care establishments. Emergency medical care attendant are employed by private ambulance services, urgent care centers or other health facilities.

Job duties

Here are some of the main activities and tasks that Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates have to perform, and some of the physical demands they involve:

  • Answer call signals; supply and empty bed pans; bathe, dress and groom patients; serve meal trays, feed or assist in feeding of patients and assist patients with menu selection; weigh, lift, turn, and position patients; shave patients prior to operations; supervise patients' exercise routines, set up and provide leisure activities for patients, accompany patients on outside recreational activities and perform other duties related to patient care and comfort
  • Take patients' blood pressure, temperature and pulse; report or record fluid intake and output; observe or monitor patients' status and document patient care on charts; collect specimens such as urine, faeces or sputum; administer suppositories, colonic irrigations and enemas and perform other procedures as directed by nursing and hospital staff
  • Administer, in emergency situations, first aid to injured or ill individuals within the scope of competencies
  • Transport patients by wheelchair or stretcher for treatment or surgery
  • Carry messages, reports, requisitions and specimens between departments
  • Make beds and maintain patients' rooms
  • Maintain inventory of supplies
  • May perform maintenance tasks such as assisting with the set-up and maintenance of traction equipment, cleaning or sterilizing equipment, maintaining and repairing equipment, and assembling, setting-up and operating job-related equipment
  • May transport patients between care facilities.

Physical demands

Physical demands are the physical activities that the job requires the worker to do. Physical demands are selected according to the likeliness that workers will have to perform them for at least half of the time they spend at work.

Work environment

The work environment refers to the physical setting in which people work. The characteristics and conditions of the work environment are selected according to the likeliness that workers will be exposed to them at least once a week.

Physical proximity from others

Physical proximity from others refers to the physical distance between individuals in the workplace. The likeliness that the job requires to perform tasks while being physically close to other people is rated on a scale with 3 levels: "Somewhat close", "Close" and "Very close".

Related job titles

Here are some other related job titles that are found in the same occupational category (NOC 33102), and a list of similar occupations:

  • health care aide
  • hospital attendant
  • long term care aide
  • nurse aide
  • nursing attendant
  • orderly
  • patient care aide
  • patient service associate
  • personal care attendant - medical
  • psychiatric aide
  • resident care aide - medical

Similar occupations Help - Similar occupations

Similar occupations

This section lists other occupations that are part of the same broad occupational category as Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates in the National Occupational Classification (NOC). These occupations involve similar core qualifications but involve different responsibilities. To see more similar occupations, use the Job Transition Tool.

Sources Occupational and Skills Information System & National Occupational Classification

Labour Market Information Survey
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