Healthcare assistant to nurse assistant
A healthcare assistant already meets 48% of what the nurse assistant role asks for. The move turns on 16 required skills not yet in the profile.
62.6/ 100
1 How much of what a nurse assistant is expected to do is already part of a healthcare assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the nurse assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A nurse assistant role treats 20 of its required skills as things a healthcare assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- advise on healthcare users' informed consent
- communicate with nursing staff
- comply with legislation related to health care
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- contribute to continuity of health care
What stands in the way is 16 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 24 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A nurse assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a healthcare assistant background worth leading with.
- already held identify abnormalities information skills
- already held communicate with nursing staff communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide basic support to patients assisting and caring
- already held work with nursing staff communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held support nurses communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held distribute meals to patients assisting and caring
All 24 carried skills, including the 20 the nurse assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 36 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn apply nursing care in long-term care required
- still to learn apply person-centred care required
- still to learn implement nursing care required
- still to learn apply sustainability principles in health care required
- still to learn implement fundamentals of nursing required
- still to learn provide professional care in nursing required
- optional, not held follow-up patients with heart attack optional
- optional, not held perform venous cannulation optional
- still to learn person centred care required
- still to learn first aid required
- still to learn nursing principles required
- still to learn nursing science required
- optional, not held acute care optional
- optional, not held palliative care optional
- optional, not held adolescence medicine optional
- optional, not held general medicine optional
- optional, not held human anatomy optional
- optional, not held human physiology optional
- optional, not held infection control optional
- optional, not held innovation in nursing optional
- optional, not held medicines optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held pathology optional
- optional, not held primary care optional
- optional, not held resuscitation optional
- still to learn solve problems in healthcare required
- still to learn address problems critically required
- still to learn communicate in healthcare required
- optional, not held promote a positive image of nursing optional
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
- optional, not held safe management of medicines optional
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn plan nursing care required
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a nurse assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply nursing care in long-term care practise this
- 02 apply person-centred care practise this
- 03 implement nursing care practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 24 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- already held communicate with nursing staff skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held disability care knowledge
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held identify abnormalities skill
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held monitor basic patients signs skill
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held provide basic support to patients skill
- already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
- already held support nurses skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held work with nursing staff skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held disability types knowledge
- already held distribute meals to patients skill
- already held geriatrics knowledge
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held perform diagnostic testing for allergies optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
- optional, not held use electronic health records in nursing optional
20 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held acute care optional
- optional, not held follow-up patients with heart attack optional
- optional, not held palliative care optional
- optional, not held perform diagnostic testing for allergies optional
- optional, not held perform venous cannulation optional
- optional, not held safe management of medicines optional
- optional, not held use electronic health records in nursing optional
- optional, not held adolescence medicine optional
- optional, not held general medicine optional
- optional, not held human anatomy optional
- optional, not held human physiology optional
- optional, not held infection control optional
- optional, not held innovation in nursing optional
- optional, not held medicines optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held pathology optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
- optional, not held primary care optional
- optional, not held promote a positive image of nursing optional
- optional, not held resuscitation optional
22 held skills the nurse assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role apply organisational techniques skill
- not needed by the target role assist in the administration of medication to elderly skill
- not needed by the target role communicate in foreign languages with health service providers skill
- not needed by the target role convey medical routine information skill
- not needed by the target role develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- not needed by the target role educate on the prevention of illness skill
- not needed by the target role evaluate older adults' ability to take care of themselves skill
- not needed by the target role have computer literacy skill
- not needed by the target role inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- not needed by the target role manage healthcare users' data skill
- not needed by the target role older adults' needs knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform cleaning duties skill
- not needed by the target role provide health education skill
- not needed by the target role sterilization techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role support individuals to adjust to physical disability skill
- not needed by the target role use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages for health-related research skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages in patient care skill
- not needed by the target role use technical equipment for sterilisation skill
- not needed by the target role work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
- not needed by the target role work under supervision in care skill
21 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn person centred care required
- still to learn first aid required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
- still to learn nursing principles required
- still to learn nursing science required
- optional, not held acute care optional
- optional, not held palliative care optional
- optional, not held safe management of medicines optional
- optional, not held adolescence medicine optional
- optional, not held general medicine optional
- optional, not held human anatomy optional
- optional, not held human physiology optional
- optional, not held infection control optional
- optional, not held innovation in nursing optional
- optional, not held medicines optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held pathology optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
- optional, not held primary care optional
- optional, not held resuscitation optional
Other moves recorded from healthcare assistant
- physiotherapy assistant 56% covered · substantial
- dental hygienist 54% covered · substantial
- dental technician 51% covered · substantial
- maternity support worker 50% covered · substantial
- pharmacy assistant 50% covered · substantial
- dental chairside assistant 50% covered · substantial
- pharmacy technician 49% covered · substantial
- specialist pharmacist 44% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a healthcare assistant become a nurse assistant?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A healthcare assistant already covers 48% of what a nurse assistant is expected to do: 24 skills carry over, 20 of which the nurse assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a healthcare assistant need to become a nurse assistant?
16 required skills are missing, plus 20 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is apply nursing care in long-term care.
How hard is the move from healthcare assistant to nurse assistant?
Its learning distance is 62.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.