3414- Other assisting occupations in support of health services

Canada NOC: 
3414
Job Title: 

Other assisting occupations in support of health services

Job Description: 

This unit group includes workers who 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, pharmacies and medical pathology laboratories.

Main Duties: 

Orthopedic technologists perform some or all of the following duties:


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 assistants perform some or all of the following duties:


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.
Optical/ophthalmic laboratory technicians and assistants perform some or all of the following duties:


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.
Pharmacy aides perform some or all of the following duties:


Help pharmacists and other pharmacy staff with packaging and labelling of pharmaceutical products
May help in maintaining prescription records and inventories of medications and pharmaceutical products.
Sterile processing technicians perform some or all of the following duties:


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 perform some or all of the following duties:


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 perform some or all of the following duties:


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.

Employment Requirements: 

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.
Health care courses or short-term college programs related to the work of medical therapy assistants, such as recreational therapy programs, are available and may be required by employers.
Pharmacy aides require completion of secondary school
and
Several months of on-the-job training.
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.

Classified Elsewhere: 

Medical technologists and technicians (in 321 Medical technologists and technicians (except dental health))
Operating room technicians (in 3233 Licensed practical nurses)
Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment (3237)
Pathologists' assistants (in 3212 Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants)
Pharmacy clerks (in 6421 Retail salespersons)
Pharmacy technicians (in 3219 Other medical technologists and technicians (except dental health))

Source Of Info: 

National Occupation Classification, (2011)

Statistics Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada,

February 2012,

Catalogue no. 12-583-X