Introduction to Healthcare and the Healthcare Team
The team, not just the doctor
Healthcare is delivered by a coordinated team. In a Haryana PHC, CHC or district hospital you will work alongside doctors, staff nurses, pharmacists, laboratory and radiology technicians, physiotherapists, dietitians, ward attendants, housekeeping and biomedical waste handlers, and front-office or medical records staff. The NSQF Healthcare Assistant/General Duty Assistant supports the nurse and the patient; the nurse remains accountable for nursing care, not you.
Levels and settings of care
- Primary: sub-centre, PHC, CHC – first contact, screening, referral.
- Secondary: district and sub-divisional hospitals – general specialities.
- Tertiary: medical colleges and super-speciality hospitals – advanced care.
- Also home care, old-age homes, diagnostic centres and ambulance services. Your tasks change with the setting; the reporting line does not. You report to the nurse-in-charge of your shift and escalate to the doctor through that nurse.
Scope of practice
Do only what your qualification and workplace orientation cover. Assisting with activities of daily living, vital signs, bed making, specimen transport and observation are typical duties. Prescribing, giving injections, adjusting IV rates, diagnosing, or advising relatives on treatment are outside your role.
Worked example
A relative asks you to “speed up” an IV drip because it is “taking too long”. Reasoning: the infusion rate is a written medical/nursing order, and changing it can cause fluid overload or a dangerous drug dose. You explain politely that you cannot alter it, do not touch the regulator, inform the staff nurse at once, and record the request and the action taken.
Traps that cost marks
- Assuming the “healthcare team” means doctors only.
- Doing a task because “everybody does it here”.
- Bypassing the nurse to report directly to a doctor.
- Leaving the ward without a handover at shift change.