Other health care assistants

NOC

33109

- Other assisting occupations in support of health services

provide services and assistance to health care professionals and staff. Employers include hospitals, medical clinics, nursing homes and laboratories.

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Full NOC Description

Other assisting workers in support of health services provide services and assistance to health care professionals and other health care staff. They are employed in hospitals, medical clinics, offices of health care professionals, nursing homes, optical retail stores and laboratories, and medical pathology laboratories.

Main Duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

Audiometric technicians

Under the supervision of audiologists, administer tests such as pure tone hearing screening, impedance tests and noise level measurements using equipment such as audiometers and sound level meters to determine hearing thresholds of patients

Instruct patients on test procedures and record results

Monitor, check and calibrate auditory equipment

May take earmold impressions and fit and adjust hearing instruments.

Orthopedic technologists

Assist orthopedic surgeons in the treatment of orthopedic diseases and injuries by applying and adjusting casts, splints, bandages and other orthopedic devices

Assist in the application, maintenance and adjustment of traction equipment

Clean and dress wounds

Remove casts, sutures, staples and pins

Instruct patients and their families and other health care professionals with respect to orthopedic matters.

Rehabilitation aids

Prepare and maintain equipment and supplies

Assist in activities for the rehabilitation of patients as directed by health care professionals

May perform routine office functions.

Ophthalmic assistants

Take patients' general medical and ophthalmic history

Operate ophthalmic testing and measuring instruments to aid ophthalmologists in assessing patients' vision

Instruct patient on diagnostic test and record results

Assist ophthalmologists in minor office surgery

Administer eye drops, ointments and medications as directed by ophthalmologists

Clean and maintain ophthalmic instruments and equipment

Perform various administrative duties.

Optical/ophthalmic laboratory technicians and assistants

Operate 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 such as replacing frame screws or straightening frames

Maintain and repair optical laboratory equipment or machinery.

Sterile processing technicians

Operate and maintain sterilization equipment such as 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 assist 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

Assist 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.

Also Known As

audiometric assistant
audiometric technician
autopsy assistant
blood donor clinic assistant
cast room technician

chiropractic assistant

clinical laboratory helper

medical device reprocessing technician

morgue attendant

ophthalmic assistant

ophthalmic laboratory technician - retail

ophthalmic lens grinder

ophthalmologist assistant

optical laboratory assistant

optometrist assistant

orthopedic technologist

rehabilitation aide

therapy aide

Requirements

Employment Requirements

Audiometric technicians usually require a specialization in industrial audiometry testing.

Orthopedic technologists usually require completion of secondary school and several months of on-the-job training or a college orthopedic technologist program.

Registration with the Canadian Society of Orthopaedic Technologists is available and may be required by employers.

Ophthalmic assistants require completion of a six to twelve month ophthalmic assistants college program or a minimum of one year of on-the-job training under the supervision of an ophthalmologist, and completion of an approved ophthalmic assistant home study program.

Certification by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology may be required by employers.

Health care courses or short-term college programs related to the work of medical therapy aides, such as recreational therapy programs, are available and may be required by employers.

Sterile processing technicians require completion of secondary school and a six- to nine-month sterile processing college program.

Completion of secondary school and several months of on-the-job training are usually required for other assisting occupations in this unit group.

Provincial Regulation

Not Provincially Regulated

Employment by Sex

The following graph shows the percentage of men and women working in this occupation in New Brunswick.

Data legend

78.0%

Female

22.0%

Male

Employment by age

The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by age group.

Data legend

15.7%

15-24

14.9%

25-34

24.8%

35-44

20.7%

45-54

19.8%

55-64

4.1%

65+

Employment by highest level of education

The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick by highest level of education achieved.

Data legend

5.8%

No Certificate, Diploma or Degree

30.5%

High School, Diploma or Equivalent

4.1%

Apprenticeship or Trades Certificate or Diploma

43.2%

College or University Below Bachelor Level

16.5%

University - Bachelor Level or Above

Employment by Industry

The following graph shows the industry groups in which the largest shares of persons working in this occupation in New Brunswick are employed. Small percentages for all top three industry groups may suggest employment for this occupation is widely distributed amongst many industry groups.

Data legend

88.6%

Health care and social assistance

3.3%

Retail trade

3.3%

Public administration

4.9%

All Other Industries

Employment by Economic Regions

The following graph shows the breakdown of all persons employed in this occupation in New Brunswick by which economic region they reside in.

Data legend

20.50%

Northeast

34.40%

Southeast

27.90%

Southwest

9.00%

Central

8.20%

Northwest

Economic Regions

The following map displays New Brunswick’s five economic regions. An economic region (ER) is a grouping of counties, created as a standard unit for analysis of regional economic activity across Canada.

Annual Average Salary by Economic Regions

The following graph shows the average salary of all persons employed in this occupation in each of New Brunswick’s five economic regions.

Data legend

$39,000

Northeast

$43,000

Southeast

$42,000

Southwest

$44,000

Central

$40,000

Northwest

Economic Regions

Hourly Median Wages by Economic Regions

The following represents the median hourly wage of all persons employed in this occupation in each of New Brunswick’s five economic regions.

Salary

The following shows the average salary of everyone who worked full-time and year-round in this occupation across each of the Atlantic Provinces and nationally.

Employment Outlook

The following represents the number of job openings that are expected to occur in this occupation over the next three and ten years respectively, broken down by openings expected to result from growth (“new jobs”) and openings expected to result from attrition (death and retirements).

Occupational Profiles