Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
High opportunity occupation
Career Overview
Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates are all types of health care workers.
In B.C., health care workers who work with patients in hospitals, group homes and assisted living, long-term care, urgent care and other facilities are commonly known as care aides (also known as health care assistants, or HCAs). They assist nurses, doctors, hospital and facility staff in the basic care of patients.
Job Titles
Duties
In general, care aides work closely with patients to:
- Provide personal care following a client care plan
- Answer their call signals
- Bathe, dress and groom them
- Brush their teeth
- Set up and serve meals, and help them eat and drink
- Weigh, lift, turn and position them, including with using a mechanical lift
- Transfer them from a bed to a wheelchair, bath chair or toilet
- Shave them before operations
- Measure temperature, pulse and respiration
- Record fluid intake and output
- Supply and empty bed pans and drainage bags, and collect specimens such as urine, feces and sputum
- Transport them by wheelchair and stretcher for treatment and surgery
- Respond and take direction from supervisor in an emergency situation
In addition, care aides:
- Promote exercise and activity
- Observe patients’ progress, symptoms and behaviour, and report key observations
- Document patient care on charts
- Assist with medications and bowel care
- Carry messages, reports, forms and specimens between departments
- Accompany patients during transport between facilities
- Maintain an inventory of supplies
- Check and clean equipment for safety and functionality
Earnings
Earnings is income that workers receive in exchange for their labour. Depending on the type of employment, earnings can be in the form of wages (hourly), salaries (fixed monthly or annual) or self-employed earnings.
Work Environment
# Workers Employed
39,155% Employed Full Time
53%Care aides work in hospitals and private and public long-term care facilities. These include group homes, hospices and facilities focused on acute care, long-term care, multi-level/complex care, dementia care, assisted living, mental health and pre- and post-surgery care.
Care aides usually work 8- to 12-hour shifts. Full-time employees work 36 to 40 hours per week. They often work weekends, holidays, evenings or nights. On-call and part-time work is also common.
This work can be physically demanding, with constant standing and walking. Care aides also move, position and often use patient lifts to mitigate worksite injuries. Care aides support patients with a variety of health conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. In addition, they may be exposed to infectious diseases, toxic chemicals and violent behaviour.
More and more, care aides use computers and new technology to record patient information.
Career Pathways
Care aides typically begin their careers in casual or on-call roles. But more and more, new graduates of health care assistant programs are finding permanent positions.
With experience, education and training, care aides can earn leadership positions in musculoskeletal injury prevention training or mental health care settings.
With additional education and certification, a care aide can become a licensed practical nurse (LPN). From there, they can train to become a registered nurse (RN).
Related Careers
Occupational Interests
It’s important to understand what kinds of occupations align with your interests.
For more about occupational interests visit Skills for the Future Workforce > Characteristics.
Here are the top occupational interest(s) for this career profile:
Education, Training and Skills
To work as a health care assistant (HCA) in any health care setting that receives funding from the provincial government, care aides must be registered with the B.C. Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry.
Currently, those private health care providers that do not receive public funding may hire HCAs who are not registered.
To be certified as an HCA, care aides must:
- Undergo a criminal record check and tuberculosis screening
- Complete a recognized six- to nine-month HCA program
- Complete CPR, FOODSAFE and first-aid certification
- Register with the B.C. Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry
Care aides may also need:
- Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) training
- Violence prevention training
- Mental health first-aid training
- Ongoing professional development
- A certificate in medication management
Education programs in B.C.
The following program areas are related to this occupation:
- Health Care Assistant (Related)
Skills
Every job calls for a certain set of skills. Knowing those skills is the first step in finding a good career fit.
Here, you will find the 10 most relevant workplace skills. Some are more important to achieving success in a certain career than others. These skills may come naturally to you or you may need to gain them through education, training and experience.
See the list of work-related skills below, ranked in order of importance for this career. Check out the list and see if this career matches your skills—take that first step!
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Talking to others to share information effectively.
Keeping track of and assessing your performance, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
Labour Market Statistics
Discover data, facts and information that have been gathered and analyzed. Learn about the characteristics of the economy and labour market in B.C.
Employment
Find out about employment types and trends by region and industry.
Employment
39,155Employment by Region
| Region | Employment | % Employment of this Occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Cariboo | 1,315 | 3.4% |
| Kootenay | 1,385 | 3.5% |
| Mainland/Southwest | 21,360 | 54.6% |
| North Coast and Nechako | 710 | 1.8% |
| Northeast | 395 | 1.0% |
| Thompson-Okanagan | 5,720 | 14.6% |
| Vancouver Island/Coast | 8,270 | 21.1% |
Labour Market Outlook
The B.C. Labour Market Outlook is a 10-year forecast of the expected supply and demand for labour in the province. It’s usually updated every year. The purpose is to provide British Columbians with the knowledge to make informed decisions on careers, skills training, education and hiring.
Forecasted Job Openings (2024-2034)
22,810Forecasted Job Openings
Forecasted Employment Growth Rate
Composition of Job Openings
Job Openings by Region (2024-2034)
| Region | Job Openings | Avg. Annual Employment Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Cariboo | 710 | 1.6% |
| Kootenay | 540 | 1.0% |
| Mainland/Southwest | 12,760 | 2.1% |
| North Coast and Nechako | 160 | 0.0% |
| Northeast | 150 | 0.6% |
| Thompson-Okanagan | 3,080 | 2.2% |
| Vancouver Island/Coast | 5,390 | 2.2% |
Industry Highlights
Learn about the opportunities in B.C.'s major industries, including employment trends, earning potential, locations of work and more.
Forecasted Job Openings by Industry
| Industry | Job Openings (2024-2034) |
|---|---|
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 20,990 |
| Repair, Personal and Non-Profit Services | 1,210 |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 70 |
| Information, Culture and Recreation | 60 |
| Public Administration | 60 |
Insights from Industry
There are many job opportunities for care aides in a variety of environments across B.C. Demand is especially high in long-term care facilities and privately-run institutions, and in rural and remote areas. As a result, where there is strong demand, salaries are rising.
The Canadian population aged 85 and older is one of the fasted growing age groups. This trend means that the demand for care aides will continue to increase.
Resources
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BC Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registrywww.cachwr.bc.ca
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BC Health Care Assistantswww.choose2care.ca
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BC Health Careers.cabchealthcareers.ca/
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Fraser Healthwww.fraserhealth.ca/
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Interior Health – Jobsjobs.interiorhealth.ca/
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Island Healthwww.islandhealth.ca/
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Northern Health – Careerscareers.northernhealth.ca/
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Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) – Jobsjobs.phsa.ca/
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Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)www.vch.ca/
Career Videos
Watch the video below to see a day in the life of a patient care attendant (care aide).
Watch the video below to see a day in the life of a patient care attendant (care aide).
