Patient transport and working close to patients

While many connect the service assistant trade with cleaning, the speciality hospital service also involves another and more personal side: transporting, moving and positioning patients, and being present in situations where people are ill, vulnerable or dying. The competence objectives for the education describe directly that you must be able to transport, move and position patients and show heightened attention in daily work in relation to patient contact.

§Transport moving and storage

Moving a patient safely requires more than physical strength — it requires technique and the right aids. Positioning is about placing the patient in a position that is both gentle on the body and fits the situation, e.g., after surgery. Incorrect movement can make pain worse or create pressure ulcers, while correct technique protects both the patient and yourself from injury.

• 01Use the aids the department provides — slides, lift sheets, transfer belts
• 02PLACEHOLDER_77
• 03Explain to the patient what will happen before you do it
• 04Be aware of tubes, drips and other equipment when moving or driving a patient

§The ethical responsibility

You must be able to provide service correctly according to the hospital's ethical guidelines and assist relevant professional groups. This means you act calmly and respectfully regardless of how pressured the situation is, and you know your own role: you're part of the patient's sense of security in the ward, even though you don't treat yourself.

§Terminal patients and relatives

Part of hospital service involves practical tasks and work following current procedures related to terminal patients, the deceased and relatives. It is some of the most emotionally demanding in the trade and so there are fixed procedures for how it is handled — they exist to create dignity for the deceased and security for the relatives and to give you a clear framework to act within.

§Confidentiality obligation

You come close to confidential patient information. Confidentiality obligations for public employees follow, among other things, from Criminal Code § 152, which punishes unauthorized disclosure of confidential information from public service with a fine or imprisonment for up to six months — and according to the Health Act, patients are entitled to have their information treated confidentially by the practical staff around them too. You don't read medical records or papers that don't relate to your task, and you don't talk about patients outside of work.

“On a hospital, you are rarely the one who treats — but you are often the one the patient remembers as being kind when things were hard.”

— Professional point.