This article explores a team-building day facilitated by the Royal Army Medical Reserve Services for first-year student nursing associates. The event was designed to help students develop communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills while working together in a relaxed and supportive environment. Through a series of practical activities, students were encouraged to consider different approaches to leadership, communication and teamworking, while developing an insight into the role of the Army Reserve.
In this article, the author reflects on her journey from being a physiotherapy assistant in stroke rehabilitation to pursuing registration as a physiotherapist. She discusses the influence of supportive mentors, the importance of the allied health professions support workers, and the challenges and opportunities that can arise when taking a non-traditional route into a registered profession.
Menopause is an increasingly recognised workplace health issue, with implications for wellbeing, confidence and workforce retention. Experiences vary between individuals and may be influenced by working conditions, workplace culture and wider social circumstances. This article discusses current evidence and policy around menopause, including how healthcare assistants can be supported to manage symptoms and remain well at work.
This article, the twenty-third in a series exploring long-term health conditions, continues the examination of enduring mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and psychosis. Building on previous discussions of presentation and clinical management, this article critically examines the complex issues of mental health-related stigma and discrimination. It also explores the service-user-led mad pride movement, the neurodiversity paradigm, and the impact of the STOMP and STAMP medication management initiatives. Finally, it outlines the essential roles of the healthcare assistant in advocating for patients and challenging prejudice in clinical practice.
In this article, the author reflects on her journey from being a healthcare assistant to pursuing a career as a practice educator, exploring how her experiences shaped her commitment to education, advocacy and workforce development. She discusses developing education programmes for nursing support workers and promoting greater recognition and career development for the workforce.
In this reflective article, the author recounts her unconventional route into healthcare and the values that have shaped her career. She reflects on her transition into rehabilitation, her decision to undertake an apprenticeship in sustainable healthcare, and how a commitment to improving health and wellbeing continues to guide her professional journey in an era of climate change.
This two-part series explores healthcare apprenticeships as an alternative route into a clinical career. The author draws on their own progression from a level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker apprenticeship into a radiography degree apprenticeship. This article traces the evolution of apprenticeships in England, before reflecting on the author's own decision to pursue an apprenticeship over full-time university study and the skills this route provided. The author discusses apprenticeships as a path offering earning potential, hands-on experience, and reduced financial risk, while noting the workplace misconceptions that apprentices can face.
This article aims to support healthcare assistants and nursing associates in developing the confidence to deliver puberty health promotion to primary school-aged children within a school setting. Careful preparation for a range of classroom scenarios can increase confidence and demonstrate professional competence. Key considerations include effective communication, ensuring children feel respected, valued and heard, managing awkwardness and embarrassment associated with the topic, and recognising the importance of safeguarding throughout the session.
Housing is a key determinant of wellbeing and health inequalities. Poor-quality, overcrowded or insecure housing is associated with respiratory disease, cardiovascular conditions, accidents, mental ill-health and increased vulnerability among children, older people and those with long-term conditions. The article discusses safeguarding concerns, health literacy, stigma and barriers to accessing support services. The author emphasises the important role that healthcare assistants play in recognising housing-related risks, documenting concerns, escalating appropriately and working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams.
This series of articles explores a number of long-term health conditions and disabilities, including how the condition presents itself, management strategies and the roles of healthcare assistants. The twenty-second of these articles will explore a range of long-term mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and psychotic episodes. The author discusses issues around the lived experiences of mental illnesses and forms of support, care and treatment.
Good health and wellbeing are essential for a fulfilling life, yet significant health inequalities persist locally, nationally and globally. These inequalities result in unequal opportunities for individuals and communities to achieve and maintain good health, and are shaped by a range of social, economic and environmental factors. This article, the first in the series on health inequalities, explores health disparities in the UK and highlights practical ways that healthcare assistants can provide holistic and patient-centred care.
This article highlights the important role of sensory rooms within paediatric inpatient services. The authors discuss the rationale of these rooms, including the importance of a structured approach and potential challenges. Relevant legislation, policy and guidance are explored and emphasis is placed on providing sensory-inclusive healthcare when caring for children and young people with complex needs.
Income and financial security are key determinants of health across the lifespan and contribute substantially to widening health inequalities. Individuals experiencing low income, debt, insecure employment or fuel and food poverty are more likely to develop long-term conditions, experience poorer mental health and have reduced life expectancy compared with more affluent populations. For healthcare assistants, understanding the relationship between financial hardship and health is essential to delivering compassionate, person-centred care. This article explores how income shapes access to nutritious food, safe housing, heating, transport, digital connectivity and healthcare services, and examines the impact of financial stress on physical and psychological wellbeing.
Health inequalities remain a major challenge within the UK, shaping patterns of disease incidence, access to care and health outcomes across populations. Healthcare assistants deliver direct, person-centred care, frequently working with individuals and groups disproportionately affected by social disadvantage. This article explores the key risk factors underpinning health inequalities and considers how these overlap to compound disadvantage. The author discusses how healthcare assistants can play a meaningful role in mitigating the impact of health inequalities and supporting more equitable health outcomes across the populations they serve.
Background: In the UK, healthcare assistants play an important role in caring for older people living with dementia who are admitted to mental health wards. However, their role is poorly described and understood. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the ways healthcare assistants provide care in these wards. Methods: A qualitative mixed methods, longitudinal and participatory action research study was conducted across two sites in the North of England. Nine experienced healthcare support workers participated in the study. Results: Three healthcare support worker practice domains were identified, all of which highlighted the range of attributes that healthcare support workers draw upon in their everyday caring practices in the ward. These included using my senses and my body, ‘tuning in’ to five different aspects while caring, and being co-present. Conclusions: Healthcare support worker practice on the mental health wards for older people with dementia requires skill and attention. Findings from this study revealed that this workforce plays an important role in attending to the needs of vulnerable patients. Implications for practice: The practice poster co-produced in this study could help healthcare organisations and staff to understand the different ways that support workers engage in their practice. Future studies could explore the value of caring through sensory practices and how healthcare assistants learn and improve these skills.
This article, the fifteenth in the series regarding the care certificate, discusses the meaning of the standard ‘infection prevention and control’ and what this requires of the healthcare assistant.
This series of articles will explore a number of long-term health conditions and disabilities, including how the condition presents itself, management strategies and the role of the healthcare assistant. This article, the seventeenth in the series, will discuss liver disease, including causes and management strategies.
This article examines how healthcare workers may encounter rare infectious diseases such as prion diseases in clinical practice. It discusses the different types of prion disease that humans may inherit or acquire, and emphasises the importance of infection control regulations specific to prion diseases. The article argues that adherence to these regulations is imperative in order to protect both workers and patients from transmission.
