This Healthcare support course equips the carer with the practical knowledge and skills required to support and assist people in their daily lives. Throughout the Healthcare Support course, students will visit and obtain work experience in a variety of settings. Placement will be monitored by qualified healthcare practitioners.

This programme offers learners an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge suitable for a healthcare setting with the necessary qualification required for all healthcare support staff. Learners complete work experience in a clinical/ward environment and are trained using simulation equipment to help them understand how to care for people. Successful learners could go on to work in many different healthcare settings including hospitals, nursing homes and register with agencies for home help services.

This one year course is to enable the learner to acquire the knowledge, skill and competence to work under supervision in providing support in a variety of Healthcare settings or to progress to further and or higher education and training.

• It is a stand-alone qualification for employment as a Care Assistant/Healthcare Worker
• It can also be used as a route to 3rd Level Education

Students are offered a practical and theoretical introduction to a career in the caring field.

This course gives students a realistic understanding of what the world of work entails and the required qualification for working as care/care assistants.

This programme is for people who wish to pursue careers in the Healthcare Sector as Healthcare Assistants or Carers, specifically managing the care of the older person.

• To facilitate the learner to explore healthcare support with a view to re-skilling/up-skilling and exploring concepts and subject areas that may interest the learner in future programmes or employment
• To facilitate the learner to plan, develop and implement appropriate Healthcare strategies that contribute to the health and well being a wide range of client groups in a range of health care settings.
• To facilitate the contribute to planning, implementing and evaluating processes in providing holistic client centred care safely and effectively.
• To provide a programme of learning that is vocational in nature and flexible in structure so that the learner has the maximum opportunity to improve his/her academic and vocational literacy, numerical, ICT and planning skills while participating in the programme

The aim of the programme is to enable the student to develop the knowledge, skill and competencies to work as part of a multidisciplinary team in the provision of effective and appropriate healthcare supports to clients in a variety of settings, recognising client’s individual needs, assisting with activities of daily living and maintaining a safe and hygienic healthcare environment.

An additional module, 5N3734 Infection Prevention and Control, will be delivered on this course. In addition to the L5 Major Award 5M4339 Healthcare Support modules offered on this course, training in Patient Handling, First Aid Responder and MAPA (Crisis Prevention Institute - CPI Training) will be provided.

This programme is a culmination of a two-year development process, during which there was extensive consultation with the healthcare sector. It has been developed specifically for healthcare assistants to provide them with a pathway from Further Education and Training (FET) at Level 5 to this programme at Higher Education and Training (HET) Level 6.