33102 Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates

What this occupation covers

Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates assist nurses, hospital staff and physicians in the basic care of patients. They are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted care facilities for the elderly and other health care establishments. Emergency medical care attendant are employed by private ambulance services, urgent care centers or other health facilities.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 9 main duties for this code.

• Answer call signals; supply and empty bed pans; bathe, dress and groom patients; serve meal trays, feed or assist in feeding of patients and assist patients with menu selection; weigh, lift, turn, and position patients; shave patients prior to operations; supervise patients' exercise routines, set up and provide leisure activities for patients, accompany patients on outside recreational activities and perform other duties related to patient care and comfort
• Take patients' blood pressure, temperature and pulse; report or record fluid intake and output; observe or monitor patients' status and document patient care on charts; collect specimens such as urine, faeces or sputum; administer suppositories, colonic irrigations and enemas and perform other procedures as directed by nursing and hospital staff
• Administer, in emergency situations, first aid to injured or ill individuals within the scope of competencies
• Transport patients by wheelchair or stretcher for treatment or surgery
• Carry messages, reports, requisitions and specimens between departments
• Make beds and maintain patients' rooms
• Maintain inventory of supplies
• May perform maintenance tasks such as assisting with the set-up and maintenance of traction equipment, cleaning or sterilizing equipment, maintaining and repairing equipment, and assembling, setting-up and operating job-related equipment
• May transport patients between care facilities.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 9 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 32102 Paramedical occupations
• 32101 Licensed practical nurses
• 33109 Other assisting occupations in support of health services
• 44101 Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations

Excluded from this code

• Emergency medical assistant (See 32102 Paramedical occupations)
• Emergency medical attendant (See 32102 Paramedical occupations)
• Licensed practical nurses (See 32101 Licensed practical nurses)
• Other assisting occupations in support of health services (See 33109 Other assisting occupations in support of health services)
• Personal care attendant - home care (See 44101 Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

anesthetic attendant - hospital · continuing care assistant · emergency medical care assistant · emergency medical care attendant (non-paramedical) · emergency medical responder (non-paramedical) · emergency room aide · environmental assistant - medical · environmental support person - medical · escort - health services · first aid attendant · first aid attendant - emergency · geriatric aide · geriatric health care attendant · health care aide · health care assistant · hospice worker · hospital aide · hospital attendant · hospital orderly · hospital porter · hospital service aide - medical · hospital ward aide · institutional aide · long term care aide

Employment requirements

• Some secondary school education and on-the-job training or a personal support worker, nursing aide or health care aide college or private institutional program, or a college nursing orderly program and supervised practical training are required.
• Completion of specialized courses such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid is usually required.
• An appropriate class of driver's licence may be required for medical attendants.