Personal Care Assistant

Scope of Practice

• Taking/recording vital signs and vital signs parameters
• Measuring and recording height and weight
• Obtaining/recording FSBS
• Caring for the patient’s environment
• Purposeful rounding
• Providing foley care and maintenance
• Recognizing abnormal changes in body function and the importance of reporting such changes to a supervisor.
• Providing post mortem care

Personal Care Skills, including but not limited to, the following

• Bathing (to include observation for pressure ulcers)
• Grooming, including mouth care
• Dressing
• Toileting
• Assisting with eating and hydration
• Proper feeding techniques
• Skin-care including observation for pressure ulcers and skin tears
• Transfers, positioning and turning (to include observation for pressure ulcers)

Mental Health and Social Service Needs as follows:

• Modifying behavior in response to patient’s behavior including depression
• Awareness of developmental tasks associated with the aging process
• How to respond to patient’s behavior including depression
• Allowing residents to make personal choices, providing and reinforcing other behavior consistent with the patient’s dignity
• Emotional and mental health needs of the patients
• Spiritual and cultural needs of the patients

Care of Cognitively Impaired Patients as follows:

• Techniques for addressing the unique needs and behaviors of individuals with dementia (Alzheimer’s and others)
• Communicating with cognitively impaired patients process
• Understanding the behavior of cognitively impaired patients
• Appropriate responses to the behavior of cognitively impaired patients
• Methods of reducing the effects of cognitive impairments
• Spiritual and cultural health
• Monitoring patients 1:1 / patient safety partner

Basic Restorative Services – The patient care assistant should be able to demonstrate skills which incorporate principles of restorative nursing, including but not limited to:

• Training the patient in self-care according to the patient’s abilities
• Ambulation with/without a gait belt
• The use of assistive devices in transferring, ambulation, eating and dressing patients
• Maintenance of range of motion
• Proper turning and positioning in bed and chair
• Bowel and bladder training
• Care and use of prosthetic/orthotic devices and eyeglasses

Patients Rights – The patient care assistant should be able to demonstrate behavior which maintains patients’ rights, including but not limited to:

• Providing privacy and maintenance of confidentiality
• Promoting the patients’ right to make personal choices to accommodate their needs
• Providing needed assistance in transporting patients
• Maintaining care and security of patient’s personal possessions
• Providing care which maintains the patient free from abuse, mistreatment and neglect and reporting any instances of such treatment to appropriate facility staff
• Avoiding the need for restraints in accordance with current professional standard