Other Heath Services Assistants

Nature of work

People in these jobs provide specialized services and support to healthcare professionals and other health care staff. This group includes pharmacy aides, orthopedic technologists, optical/ophthalmic laboratory technicians, rehabilitation assistants, sterile processing technicians, blood donor clinic assistants, and morgue attendants. They work in hospitals, medical clinics, offices of health care professionals, nursing homes, optical retail stores and laboratories, pharmacies, and medical pathology laboratories.

Job duties

Orthopedic technologists:

• Help orthopedic surgeons treat orthopedic diseases and injuries by applying and adjusting casts, splints, bandages, and other orthopedic devices.
• Help apply, maintain, and adjust traction equipment.
• Clean and dress wounds.
• Remove casts, sutures, staples, and pins.
• Instruct patients and their families and other health care professionals about orthopedic matters.

Rehabilitation assistants:

• Prepare and maintain equipment and supplies.
• Help with rehabilitation activities of patients as directed by health care professionals.
• May perform routine office functions.

Optical/ophthalmic laboratory technicians and assistants:

• Use 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 like replacing frame screws or straightening frames.
• Maintain and repair optical laboratory equipment or machinery.

Pharmacy aides:

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

Sterile processing technicians:

• Use and maintain sterilization equipment like 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.
• 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.
• Monitor donors throughout procedure and help with post-donation care and donor reaction care as assigned under the supervision of a registered nurse.
• Record information on donors.
• Label and process donated blood.

Morgue attendants:

• Help pathologists at autopsies by laying out surgical instruments.
• Prepare solutions for preservation of specimens.
• Transfer bodies from morgue to examining table.
• Remove organs and tissue specimens, as instructed by attending pathologist, and placing them in preservative solutions.
• Clean and sew up bodies for release to funeral home.

Sample job titles

• central supply aide - medical
• clinical laboratory helper
• emergency room attendant
• morgue attendant
• occupational therapy aide
• optical technician
• pharmacy aide
• recreation therapy assistant
• rehabilitation assistant
• surgical assistant

Skills

• You should have good interpersonal skills and a desire to help others. Patience and the ability to handle stressful situations may be needed. You must be efficient and accurate, yet sensitive to the needs of clients. Hand-eye coordination and an aptitude for detailed and precise work are necessary.

Job requirements

• Orthopedic technologists usually require completion of high school and several months of on-the-job training or a college orthopedic technologist program.
• Registration with the Canadian Society of Orthopedic 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 like recreational therapy programs, are available and may be required by employers.
• Pharmacy aides require completion of high school and several months of on-the-job training.
• Sterile processing technicians require completion of high school and a six- to nine-month sterile processing college program.
• Completion of high school and several months of on-the-job training are usually required for other assisting jobs in this group.

Other considerations

• Working conditions vary with the type of role in this group. Some positions work regular office hours while others may work shift-work.

No regulating bodies were found under this occupation profile

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