It is widely recognised that healthcare assistants (HCAs) have taken some registered nurse (RN) roles; however, the importance of competencies, supervision and monitoring of HCAs is not always recognised. The aim of this project was to examine the education needs of HCAs for the tasks delegated to them and to provide an education day relevant to these needs. Methodology involved an audit of knowledge of the participating HCAs. The audit included a short questionnaire, participant observation and focus groups and it provided information on the needs of HCAs. Findings showed that HCAs spent 80% of their time on direct patient care, 5% on cleaning tasks and 15% on documentation. However, no direction was given to them and there was no monitoring from the RNs. Initially, one day of training was planned, but after feedback, two days were offered to maximise learning (see Box 2 ). After the sessions, attendees were given an evaluation form and the feedback from the two-day course was positive.
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