A hospital porter is a person who assists doctors and nurses in a medical facility with a variety of tasks. Being successful in this field usually necessitates someone who isn’t afraid to get dirty and can lift heavy objects. It’s also advantageous to have excellent interpersonal and communication skills. In general, no specialized degree is required to work as a porter, but having at least a high school diploma is advantageous. Moving patients, assisting physicians, assisting patients with hygiene, performing laundry duties, and emptying waste are all common job responsibilities.
Moving patients is one of a hospital porter’s main responsibilities. If a patient needs to be transported from one end of a hospital to the other, a porter will assist the patient in transferring to a gurney and transporting the patient to the appropriate department. He may also accompany a patient being transported from a hospital to a nursing home in some cases. Because of the physically demanding nature of the job, the porter must be able to lift patients of all sizes.
A hospital porter’s other important role is to assist physicians with a variety of tasks. When dealing with a difficult patient who is behaving badly, he may need to restrain the patient while a nurse administers medication. He may transport items from one department to another, such as patient test samples. After each patient, a porter is also required to clean the gurneys and change the sheets.
In many facilities, assisting patients with tasks related to maintaining hygiene is also a part of this job. This can include things like washing, brushing teeth, and putting on clothes for a patient. A hospital porter may also assist male patients with shaving prior to surgery or an operation. As a result, a porter should have a friendly demeanor and be able to establish rapport with a wide range of patients.
He will also be required to do some laundry from time to time. He is responsible for keeping the linens fresh and clean because he frequently uses gurneys to move patients. He will also be responsible for transporting soiled or dirty sheets to a laundry department and replenishing clean sheets.
In addition, waste will be removed a hospital porter. This typically entails removing trash from all patients’ rooms as well as any other trash receptacles throughout the facility. He’s in charge of properly disposing of the trash in a dumpster and changing trash bags.