How to become a Healthcare Assistant

The role of a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) can be varied and can include working alongside nurses in care homes, hospitals, or in mental health, community or General Practice surgeries.

If you’re eyeing up a career in care, then becoming an HCA can often be the best way to get a foot in the door and discover which area you’d like to specialise in.

Although there are no set entry requirements for becoming an HCA, there are a few set skills that you must possess if you are looking to pursue this career choice.

Personal characteristics

To work in the care profession you must first possess a caring heart. You will be working with people who are reliant on the care you provide, so having a cheerful and friendly attitude is crucial. The ability to remain calm in stressful situations and work to your own initiative, as well as in a team is a must.
 

Good communication skills will help you greatly as an HCA, as will the skills of being organised and observational.

Willingness to learn

There are no set qualifications that you will need to become an HCA, although employers may ask for GCSE’s or equivalent in English and Maths, or a BTEC/NVQ. Possessing some work experience in care will go a long way in helping your application and apprenticeships are available to provide you with both a qualification and experience.

Training

NVQ courses in Health and Social Care are available at most major colleges and the training you will receive will include basic nursing skills. You’ll work towards the Care Certificate during this time, which consists of an asset of standards that health and social care workers adhere to in order to ensure that they have the right knowledge and behaviour to provide compassionate, safe and quality care.
 

At Nurseplus, we provide a wide range of internal training courses, as well as being able to support you with external training that will support your personal development.
 

Becoming an HCA will open up many doors and many people go on to become nurses, midwives, mental health professionals and physiatrists amongst other things.

Get a job

We have many opportunities for Health Care Assistants within a variety of care environments.
Some of the benefits of working for Nurseplus include flexible hours, free training in line with the Care Certificate, excellent weekly pay, staff benefits and a refer a friend scheme.

To find out more about the opportunities on offer, visit our jobs pages