Pacific Coast Community College

At Pacific Coast Community College we train the Care aides and community health workers that are the front-line care providers in a variety of institutional and community settings, including both home support agencies and residential care facilities. They are an integral part of our health care system. Health Care Assistants help health care professionals to care for patients. They may work in a hospital environment alongside doctors and nurses or in the home of a patient. Health Care Assistants are responsible for assisting qualified health care professionals in caring for patients, who may be being treated in hospital or at home. The job can be extremely varied, since the health care professionals who require the services of a Health Care Assistant range from nurses to doctors, and from radiologists to midwives. The job of a Health Care Assistant overlaps with that of a nurse. However, Health Care Assistants are not allowed to administer medication or perform complex nursing procedures. They are responsible for performing simple health/medical support tasks. They also take regular observations and ensure that patients are constantly kept as comfortable as possible. Health Care Assistants are also able to help out during emergency situations, for instance during emergency resuscitation's. If a patient dies, Health Care Assistants are responsible for washing and preparing the body prior to the visit of relatives and transportation to the morgue. While Health Care Assistants are responsible for recording the observations of patients throughout the day, they do not usually have much paperwork to do. Paperwork is usually the responsibility of the nurse. For this reason, Health Care Assistants will have relatively more contact with patients and the relatives of patients.