3414 Other assisting occupations in support of health services

 

Category: Health occupations

Major Group 34 : Assisting occupations in support of health services

 

 

This unit group includes workers who provide services and assistance to health care professionals and other health care staff. They are employed in hospitals, medical clinics, offices of health care professionals, nursing homes, optical retail stores and laboratories, pharmacies and medical pathology laboratories.

Example Titles

autopsy assistant
blood donor clinic assistant
cast room technician
chiropractic assistant
clinical laboratory helper
lens grinder, ophthalmic
morgue attendant
ophthalmic laboratory technician – retail
optical laboratory assistant
optometrist assistant
orthopedic technologist
rehabilitation assistant
sterile processing technician
therapist assistant – medical

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Main duties

The following is a summary of main duties for some occupations in this unit group:

• Orthopedic technologists assist orthopedic surgeons in the treatment of orthopedic diseases and injuries by applying and adjusting casts, splints, bandages and other orthopedic devices; assisting in the application, maintenance and adjustment of traction equipment; cleaning and dressing wounds; and removing casts, sutures, staples and pins. They also instruct patients and their families and other health care professionals with respect to orthopedic matters.

• Rehabilitation assistants prepare and maintain equipment and supplies; assist in activities for the rehabilitation of patients as directed by health care professionals and may perform routine office functions.

• Optical/ophthalmic laboratory technicians and assistants operate laboratory equipment to grind, cut, polish and edge lenses for eyeglasses according to prescriptions received and fit lenses into frames; make minor repairs for customers such as replacing frame screws or straightening frames; and maintain and repair optical laboratory equipment or machinery.

• Pharmacy aides help pharmacists and other pharmacy staff with packaging and labelling of pharmaceutical products and may help in maintaining prescription records and inventories of medications and pharmaceutical products.

• Sterile processing technicians operate and maintain sterilization equipment such as instrument washers, sonic sinks, cart washers and steam autoclaves to clean and disinfect trays, carts, linens, supplies, instrumentation and equipment for re-use according to standardized safety practices. They reassemble equipment and assemble packs of sterile supplies and instruments for delivery to hospital departments.

• Blood donor clinic assistants set up and dismantle equipment; prepare and maintain cleanliness of collection areas; maintain supplies; record information on donors; monitor donors throughout procedure and assist with post-donation care and donor reaction care as assigned under supervision of a registered nurse; and label and process donated blood.

• Morgue attendants assist pathologists at autopsies by laying out surgical instruments; preparing solutions for preservation of specimens; transferring bodies from morgue to examining table; removing organs and tissue specimens, as instructed by attending pathologist, and placing them in preservative solutions; and cleaning and sewing up bodies for release to funeral home.

 

Employment requirements

• Orthopedic technologists usually require completion of secondary school
  and
  Several months of on-the-job training
  or
  A college orthopedic technologist program.

• Registration with the Canadian Society of Orthopaedic Technologists is available and may be required by employers.

• Health care courses or short-term college programs related to the work of medical therapy assistants, such as recreational therapy programs, are available and may be required by employers.

• Pharmacy aides require completion of secondary school
  and
  Several months of on-the-job training.

• Sterile processing technicians require completion of secondary school and A six- to nine-month sterile processing college program.

• Completion of secondary school and several months of on-the-job training are usually required for other assisting occupations in this unit group.

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