Free checklist · Residential care homes
Hands-on training checklist for care home staff
Every skill a new staff member is shown in person, practiced with a trainer watching, and signed off once they can do it on their own.
Print one for each new hire. The trainer ticks Shown and Practiced as they go, then writes the date and their initials when the skill is signed off. Add the home's own skills in the blank rows at the end of each section.
Shown the trainer did it while the staff member watchedPracticed the staff member did it with the trainer watchingSigned off date and trainer's initials
Staff member
Position
Start date
Home
Trainer
Hours of hands-on training
Residents' rights and dignity
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knock, introduce yourself and say what you are about to do before helping | |||
| Keep the resident covered and the door closed during personal care | |||
| Offer choices: clothes, meals, when to bathe, when to go to bed | |||
| Know where the residents' rights are posted and how a resident makes a complaint | |||
| Keep residents' information private: what is said, written and shared | |||
| Recognize and report signs of abuse, neglect or money going missing | |||
Infection control
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wash hands the right way, and know every time to wash them | |||
| Put on and take off gloves, gown and mask without touching the outside | |||
| Bag and wash soiled linens and clothing | |||
| Clean and disinfect bathrooms, commodes and shared equipment | |||
| Throw away sharps, gloves and soiled supplies in the right container | |||
Personal care
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Help with a shower or bed bath, checking the water temperature first | |||
| Oral care, including cleaning and storing dentures | |||
| Help with dressing, starting with the weaker side | |||
| Hair care, shaving and nail care | |||
| Help with toileting, and change briefs and pads | |||
| Check skin for redness and pressure areas, and turn or reposition a resident | |||
| Put on and take off hearing aids, glasses and compression stockings | |||
Moving and transfers
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use a gait belt to help a resident stand and walk | |||
| Transfer from bed to chair and chair to bed | |||
| Transfer to and from a toilet and a shower chair | |||
| Lock, push and position a wheelchair, and adjust a walker or cane | |||
| Lift with your legs and ask for a second person when it is needed | |||
| Help a resident who has fallen: stay with them, check for injury, get help, and do not lift them alone | |||
Meals and fluids
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat a resident upright for eating and help them eat at their own pace | |||
| Serve special diets and textures: chopped, pureed, low salt, diabetic | |||
| Thicken liquids to the ordered consistency | |||
| Know each resident's food allergies before serving | |||
| Write down how much was eaten and how much was drunk | |||
| Store, label and reheat food safely | |||
Vital signs
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Take a blood pressure with an automatic cuff, and write it down | |||
| Count a pulse and breathing rate | |||
| Take a temperature | |||
| Read a pulse oximeter | |||
| Help with a blood sugar check where a resident's doctor has ordered one | |||
| Use and look after oxygen equipment safely | |||
Medications
For staff who help residents with their medications.
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check the right resident, medication, dose, time and way, against the label and the order | |||
| Help a resident take their medications, and watch them swallow | |||
| Record each dose given, refused or held, with the time | |||
| Give an as-needed medication: why it was given and how it worked | |||
| Count controlled medications at each change of shift | |||
| Store medications locked, and tell the office when one is running low | |||
| Apply eye drops, creams, inhalers and patches | |||
Memory care
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approach from the front, at eye level, with a calm voice and short sentences | |||
| Redirect a resident who is upset, without arguing | |||
| Notice late-day restlessness and what helps each resident settle | |||
| Know which residents may wander, and what to do if one is missing | |||
| Notice signs of pain in a resident who cannot say so | |||
Emergencies
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk every way out, and the place everyone meets outside | |||
| Use the fire extinguisher, and know where each one is | |||
| Move residents out in a fire drill, including those who cannot walk | |||
| What to do in an earthquake and in a power outage | |||
| Help a resident who is choking | |||
| Call 911: what to say, the home's address, and which papers go with the resident | |||
| Find each resident's code status before help arrives | |||
Writing it down
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write the daily log for each resident before the end of the shift | |||
| Give and read the shift handoff, and acknowledge the notes | |||
| Write up a fall, injury or other incident the same day | |||
| Report a change in a resident's condition, and who to tell | |||
| Sign visitors in and out, and residents out of the home and back in | |||
The home
| Skill | Shown | Practiced | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock in and out, and take lunch and breaks on the time clock | |||
| Do the duties for each shift, including laundry, restocking and the supply count | |||
| Know where the emergency numbers, the residents' files and the first-aid kit are kept | |||
| Know who to call for help on each shift | |||
Sign-off
The skills signed off above were shown, practiced and done on their own by the staff member named at the top.
Staff member's signature
Date
Trainer's signature
Date
Administrator's signature
Date
Every sign-off, on file and ready
With My Record Locker, the trainer taps each skill as it is signed off, the staff member and trainer sign on the screen, and the checklist goes straight into that person's file. When an inspector, an insurer or an agency asks for proof, it is at your fingertips.
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