Maternity support worker to nurse assistant
A maternity support worker already meets 38% of what the nurse assistant role asks for. The move turns on 20 required skills not yet in the profile.
70.9/ 100
1 How much of what a nurse assistant is expected to do is already part of a maternity support worker’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 16 of its required skills as things a maternity support worker already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- 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
- empathise with the healthcare user
- ensure safety of healthcare users
What stands in the way is 20 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 19 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 maternity support worker 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 19 carried skills, including the 16 the nurse assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 41 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 promote inclusion 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 disability care required
- 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 disability types optional
- optional, not held general medicine optional
- optional, not held geriatrics 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 accept own accountability required
- still to learn advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- 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 plan nursing care required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held perform diagnostic testing for allergies optional
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 accept own accountability practise this
- 02 advise on healthcare users' informed consent practise this
- 03 apply nursing care in long-term 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 19 skills that carry over
- 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 empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- 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 provide basic support to patients 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 distribute meals to patients skill
- already held human anatomy knowledge
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
- optional, not held safe management of medicines optional
- optional, not held use electronic health records in nursing optional
21 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 disability types optional
- optional, not held general medicine optional
- optional, not held geriatrics 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
31 held skills the nurse assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise on family planning skill
- not needed by the target role advise on pregnancies at risk skill
- not needed by the target role advise on pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role anaesthetics knowledge
- not needed by the target role analgesics knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply context specific clinical competences skill
- not needed by the target role assess the course of breast-feeding period skill
- not needed by the target role assist on pregnancy abnormality skill
- not needed by the target role care for the new-born infant skill
- not needed by the target role childbirth knowledge
- not needed by the target role embryology knowledge
- not needed by the target role empathise with the woman's family during and after pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role examine the new-born infant skill
- not needed by the target role have computer literacy skill
- not needed by the target role health education knowledge
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role neonatology knowledge
- not needed by the target role postpartum period knowledge
- not needed by the target role pregnancy knowledge
- not needed by the target role preparation for child delivery knowledge
- not needed by the target role preparation for parenthood knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote health and safety skill
- not needed by the target role provide health education skill
- not needed by the target role provide postnatal care skill
- not needed by the target role provide pre-natal care skill
- not needed by the target role sex education knowledge
- not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill
- not needed by the target role use obstetric sonography 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
22 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 disability care required
- still to learn person centred care required
- still to learn first aid required
- still to learn health care legislation 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 disability types optional
- optional, not held general medicine optional
- optional, not held geriatrics 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
Common questions about this move
Can a maternity support worker become a nurse assistant?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A maternity support worker already covers 38% of what a nurse assistant is expected to do: 19 skills carry over, 16 of which the nurse assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a maternity support worker need to become a nurse assistant?
20 required skills are missing, plus 21 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is accept own accountability.
How hard is the move from maternity support worker to nurse assistant?
Its learning distance is 70.9 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.