Professional development for support workers

Tanis Hand HCA Adviser

Role clarity

What is the fundamental

difference between a registered nurse and

an HCA or AP?

RNs

Make clinical judgements and provide nursing

care

Delegate and supervise

nursing care

APs

May transcend professional boundaries

Work is guided by standard protocols

HCAs

Are delegated nursing tasks

Work is supervised by

registered professionalswww.rcn.org.uk/publications

Common goals, different roles: briefing paper RCN 2012

From the client’s perspective

What do clients want to know about the people caring for

them?

Service users, their families and society expect high levels of care and support for vulnerable people.

Support staff make up a significant element of the workforce that care for people who have a learning disability and they must be trained and competent to provide high quality care.

When individuals are cared for in environments which do not respond well to their needs, challenging behaviour is likely to develop.

Appropriate delegation

First line managers must know the level of skill across the team and delegate work appropriately.

Their role is to keep the service on track and they do this by monitoring how the whole team works, how support staff work with individuals and what additional CPD is required.

Why is CPD so important? It enables support workers to:

– Understand their accountability– Protect and promote human rights– Respond to both general and mental health

needs effectively– Understand and use total communication

approaches– Deliver positive behaviour support

i.e. It safeguards the service users

Training the team CPD for support workers is central to

success as they are vital members of the team.

Everyone needs to understand lines of accountability and the significance of implementing care plans in a consistent manner.

All members of the team need to understand the team goals.

Developing the support worker role within the nursing team

Focus on QUALITY Accessible, competence based training Right people doing the right tasks at the

right time Appropriate delegation Working to standards Understanding and valuing each role Common client-centred goals!

HCSW regulation - update

Standards and codes – work in progress

Dedicated HCA and AP website

www.rcn.org.uk/hca

Resources and materials