The main role of a Care Worker is to provide support to a person in need of care, improving their lives by attending to their specific needs, and assisting them with their daily tasks.
Care Workers may find themselves working with children, the elderly, and people with disabilities or learning difficulties. However, key duties will usually include:
- Working with clients, their families and other professionals to identify their particular needs, and develop a care plan
- Providing personal care to clients depending on these needs (assisting them with washing/feeding/dressing etc.)
- Aiding a client with other every day or physical tasks, such as shopping, cooking or studying
- Providing emotional support to clients and their families
- Keeping the client comfortable and at ease at all times
What training do I need to be a carer?
With so many vulnerable people in society, from young children to disabled adults, carers play such an important role in many families around the UK. Although being a caring is a lot of hard work and dedication, it is immensely rewarding. So, if you’re looking to become a carer, whether you’re leaving school or looking for a change, you’ll need training and hopefully, the article will help you make the right decisions before you set off on your exciting new journey.
Is a career in caring right for me?
With many different sectors within social care to choose from and the prospect of helping people of all ages and abilities, caring can sound very appealing. However, the truth is that caring is not for everyone and before even considering training you need to ask yourself if caring is the right job for you. If you’re not sure, the best option is to try voluntary work. There are plenty of websites to help you with this, such as the NCVO and Do-It websites. Your local library could be worth visiting too. Aside from that, it gives you plenty of experience and a taste of what it’s like. Of course, you’ll have to be CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checked first.
Training Opportunities for Social Care Work
Perhaps you’re absolutely certain that a career in caring is for you. Let’s take a look at the training you’ll need to become a carer. Having a working knowledge of the social welfare system is key but many social care jobs don’t require you to have a formal qualification in this subject. Reading up on the topic is a good idea but in most cases, you’ll pick it up on the job.
Jobs will often give you the opportunity to undergo courses whilst you work allowing you attend college or university on day release. There are part-time foundation and induction course available as well as none-exam-based National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) that cover subjects like Care and Management or Health and Social Care. Degrees are available for high-level qualifications too.
The Care Certificate
Whilst formal qualifications are not essential, one thing that you are required to undertake is the Care Certificate. This is a set of standards that you must adhere to if you are to be a social care worker. These requirements are set out by Skills for Care and Health Education England. We offer a five-day Care Certificate training course which covers all 15 standards of the care certificate.
Certification
As mentioned before, formal qualifications are not essential in becoming a carer, however, they do help with job prospects and future progression. They also help you to carry out your role more efficiently and provide higher quality care. Here at Caring for Care, we offer a wide range of care courses that help you meet CQC standards. These include:
- Anaemia Awareness
- Autism Awareness
- Basic Life Support
- Breakaway Training
- Catheter Care Training
- Dementia Awareness
- Diabetes Awareness
- Dignity In Care
- Effective Communication
- Effective Record Keeping Training
- Epilepsy Awareness
- Epilepsy Medication Training
- Equality & Diversity Awareness
- Fire Safety Awareness
- Infection Control Level 1
- Learning Disability Awareness
- Managing Challenging Behaviour Training
- Nutrition & Hydration Awareness
- Pressure Sore Prevention Training
- Risk Assessment
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Children
- Safer Handling of Medication
- Safer People Moving & Handling 1 Day
- Safer People Moving & Handling 2 Day
- Safer People Moving & Handling Refresher
- Stroke Awareness
Some Hospitals, Trusts, Nursing agencies and Domiciliary care organisations insist on Mandatory training that is aligned with the Skills for Care programme. Some Hospitals and organisations require PRICE and MAPPA Training. We also deliver this. Secure Healthcare Training can train other Agency staff, individual candidates or clients with a group demand.
We can provide the premises and full training or we can provide just the trainers where appropriate. We really are flexible to support our users as much as possible. We know training and the seriousness of it needing to be done correctly and ensure you the user have the necessary knowledge to undertake your role competently.
We don’t just support healthcare establishments and individuals, we can support any business with Mandatory training such as First Aid, Manual Handling and Fire Safety. Please call us for more information.
References
Secure Training Services – http://www.securetrainingservices.co.uk/care-certificate-training/
A Career Change – http://www.acareerchange.co.uk/changing-career-becoming-carer.html
Reed – www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/how-to-become-a-care-worker/
NVCO – https://www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering
Do-It – https://do-it.org/
National Careers Service – https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/careassistant.aspx