care assistant.

On average, a care assistant earns around €17 net per hour, while night shifts can increase this to around €21 per hour. These wages are set according to pay scales, with minimum rates based on years of service.

Would you like more information about the salary of a care assistant? Then you’ll certainly find the details below useful:

• Starting care assistants earn an average of around €2,200 per month.
• After 20 years of experience as a care assistant, you can expect a salary between €3,500 (non-managerial role) and €4,900 (managerial role).

Do you work in home care, a hospital or elderly care? Then you will regularly work weekends, night shifts or even public holidays. In return, you receive additional financial compensation for these hours.

On top of these shift allowances, care assistants are also entitled to several extra benefits, including an end-of-year bonus and a 13th-month payment. In the healthcare sector, you are also eligible for an attractiveness premium, which is paid out in November. This bonus is calculated based on the number of months worked between January and September of that year.

Some of the main tasks and responsibilities of a care assistant include:

• Assessing your patients’ needs: as a care assistant, you identify the needs of the vulnerable people you support. You offer a listening ear for both practical and emotional concerns. When a patient requires 24/7 support, you help create schedules and care plans to meet those needs as effectively as possible.
• Providing support: care assistants help people in need with personal care. This is especially important when someone is unable to wash themselves or use the toilet independently. You also work together with family members, for example by offering emotional support.
• Supporting a healthy lifestyle: as a care assistant, you also contribute to your patient’s overall health. You help them eat healthily and are responsible for administering medication when required. In addition, you make sure medical appointments are properly scheduled.
• Social interaction: long-term relationships are important for everyone, especially for people who need extra care and support. As a care assistant, you help your patient build and maintain social connections. You encourage participation in recreational and community activities so they remain active and engaged.
• Writing reports: finally, as a care assistant, you are responsible for drawing up reports on the patient’s health progress. You write a short daily report on how your patient is doing, what care was provided, which activities took place and what their needs were. This is done to keep doctors and other specialists informed about the impact of the treatments they prescribe.

Care assistants work in different environments, depending on their specialisation and the patients they support.

If you work in a hospital or residential care home, you will usually work as part of a team and are often required to wear a specific uniform.

You can also work as a care assistant in home care. In that case, you travel to patients’ homes to provide care. This type of role is usually more independent, and you often work alone rather than in a team.

As a care assistant, you often work closely with other specialists and care professionals, especially in hospitals or residential care settings. These include doctors as well as other specialists such as childcare workers, personal assistants and (assistant) psychologists.

If you work in a hospital, you collaborate closely with nurses and other care assistants as part of a team. In a hospital setting, care assistants always work under the supervision of a nurse.

Care assistants may also work together with specialists such as dietitians or speech and language therapists.

It goes without saying that vulnerable people who are unable or struggle to live independently often need support 24/7. For care assistants, this means working at less conventional hours. You will therefore regularly work nights and weekends, and you must always be ready to respond to emergencies.

As a care assistant, you can also work part-time, for example to support people who only require help for part of the day. In addition, it is possible to work as a care assistant as a second job alongside other employment.

As a care assistant, there are certainly opportunities to progress if you wish. You can specialise in supporting people with mental health conditions, physical disabilities or substance misuse issues. Many care assistants also move into roles such as social care worker or positions within home care services. Would you like to use your experience as a care assistant to work for a charity or non-profit organisation? That is definitely an option, especially if you have experience supporting vulnerable adults and children.

In Belgium, a visa is the permit allowing you to work as a care assistant. You receive this automatically from the Federal Public Service (FPS) once you are registered with the Agency for Care and Health. You can apply for and track your visa through the FPS Health download portal.

A care worker is a polyvalent worker who assists people needing temporary or permanent help, mainly supporting daily activities.
A care assistant is a care worker but is also trained to perform certain nursing tasks defined by the federal government under the Healthcare Professions Act.

On average, a care assistant in Belgium earns €17.04 per hour, which amounts to approximately €33,223 per year.

Training as a care assistant is possible from secondary education onwards, for example with a TSO or BSO diploma. You can also start in higher professional education, ultimately earning an HBO5 diploma.

A care assistant is authorised to perform 23 specific nursing tasks. These include measuring pulse and body temperature, taking measures to prevent injuries according to the care plan, and administering non-anaesthetic medication.

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