Personal Support Worker Education for a New Career Path

By Cynthia Herron

Healthcare is one of the few fields that people are able to confidently aim their career path in these days. Few if any fields guarantee the job stability and earning potential that the various outlets of the health industry offer. Personal support workers are in great demand right now and many are looking at the various personal support worker education programs that are available to enter this career.

If you're going to be a personal support worker, personal support worker education is an absolute necessity to learn the various aspects of the duties that are expected of a personal support worker. Of course, there is also the personal aspect of the job as many personal support workers are more soothing for those clients that are less than easy to deal with.

Being a “people person” is extremely helpful in this field as many people are extremely uncomfortable and feel vulnerable with their personal support worker.  While you will obviously be helping the client, you will also be providing them with assistance during their most vulnerable periods.  Sometimes a soothing voice from their personal support worker will go a long way in putting them at ease.

Because of the added skills that are needed for a personal support worker, communication will play an important part in being successful in this field. If a personal support worker has challenges communicating with strangers or dealing with high tension situations (from the patients perspective), they will not be very effective at this job.

Accomplished personal support workers have a variety of career paths that they can take. They can choose to further their studies and become a supervisor themselves. However, before pursuing an education at any institution, make sure that their program is truly certified and that your certificate will be recognized as a legitimate education.

How to Find Continuing Education Courses in Personal Support Work Online

By Cynthia Herron

Becoming a personal support worker can be both fun and rewarding. This career choice allows you to work closely with healthcare professionals and the general public. The need to maintain your knowledge of this ever expanding field is easily done by locating continuing education courses in personal support work on the Internet.

By doing a detailed search online, you can find a wide range of classes available both locally and over the Internet. When searching for continuing education courses in personal support work, be sure that the course selections are made based on the requirements of where you live. Each state and/or province has different criteria that must be met.

Continuing education courses in personal support work are offered at many local and community colleges around the country. By searching the Internet for a course directory at any local school, it may be determined whether or not these types of classes are offered. These are a very specialized type of training class so the availability may be limited depending on the area you are in.

Personal support work is considered to be one of the fastest growing careers, with a 29% increase in open positions expected within the next ten years. The continuing education courses in personal support work allow someone already in the field to maintain and increase their effectiveness not only in the job market, but at the workplace as well. By maintaining a high education level, the necessary skills to keep up with today’s technology and the new techniques available for use will be a benefit to both the personal support worker as well as the client.

Local colleges that carry these courses offer them for a nominal fee and can be applied and tested for directly on the website. The catalog details the course descriptions, price and credit hours accumulated for each class taken. All of the courses available online may be taken by members and non-members alike although members do receive a discount, which if enough courses are warranted, joining may be a very good option.

As with any career, education never ends, as advances in both procedures and equipment make it beneficial to take one or two of these courses whether or not it is required.  By offering your patients the best care possible, you are assuring your place in a hospital, seniors residence, or other institution as a valued member of the staff. Take the time to do some research online and look over the vast offerings from the many fine schools available there.

Becoming a personal support worker can be both fun and rewarding. This career choice allows you to work closely with healthcare professionals and the general public. The need to maintain your knowledge of this ever expanding field is easily done by locating continuing education courses in personal support work on the Internet.

By doing a detailed search online, you can find a wide range of classes available both locally and over the Internet. When searching for continuing education courses in personal support work, be sure that the course selections are made based on the requirements of where you live. Each state and/or province has different criteria that must be met.

Continuing education courses in personal support work are offered at many local and community colleges around the country. By searching the Internet for a course directory at any local school, it may be determined whether or not these types of classes are offered. These are a very specialized type of training class so the availability may be limited depending on the area you are in.

Personal support work is considered to be one of the fastest growing careers, with a 29% increase in open positions expected within the next ten years. The continuing education courses in personal support work allow someone already in the field to maintain and increase their effectiveness not only in the job market, but at the workplace as well. By maintaining a high education level, the necessary skills to keep up with today’s technology and the new techniques available for use will be a benefit to both the personal support worker as well as the client.

Local colleges that carry these courses offer them for a nominal fee and can be applied and tested for directly on the website. The catalog details the course descriptions, price and credit hours accumulated for each class taken. All of the courses available online may be taken by members and non-members alike although members do receive a discount, which if enough courses are warranted, joining may be a very good option.

As with any career, education never ends, as advances in both procedures and equipment make it beneficial to take one or two of these courses whether or not it is required.  By offering your patients the best care possible, you are assuring your place in a hospital, seniors residence, or other institution as a valued member of the staff. Take the time to do some research online and look over the vast offerings from the many fine schools available there.

Outlook of Job Growth For Personal Support Workers

By Cynthia Herron
There is nothing like going into a field knowing that has hardly maxed out its capacity. A very common mistake by many students today is that they will look at how a field is hiring right now and immediately make the decision to pursue an education for that field. The problem is that by the time their education is completed, the field has tightened up and they can no longer find a position. The job growth for personal support workers makes this a very attractive field to consider.

The first thing to look at is how the industry as a whole will continue to hire over the very near future. Because most estimates have this particular field exploding well after 2015, there can be a considerable level of confidence that after completing a one year course of study that there will still be plenty of positions available. However, the overall job outlook is only one aspect of job growth.

The next thing to look at is where this position will take you over your career. In other words, where can you go and how much more money can you make? Unless they are there strictly to pick up a check, nobody wants to be faced with doing the same mundane position for the rest of their lives. This is actually another reason that becoming a personal support worker is very popular these days.

While you can stay as a personal support worker, your role may increase within the organization itself. People who have become proficient at their duties will find that they are getting extra duties that will end up increasing their overall wage over that of people that are just showing up every day. By learning these extra tasks, you become a more valuable part of the team and should be compensated as such.

There is also the possibility of using your career as a personal support worker as a springboard to a supervisory position. While you may find that some of the duties actually coincide, the pay scale is dramatically different from position to position. That being the case it may be desirable to continue your education and follow a different career path within the same industry.

For those that are truly ambitions, becoming a manager is not out of the question. This will of course take quite a bit more time, but if you find that you truly love the profession, why not try to reach the apex of the field?

While the pay may not initially be very high the compensation levels escalate fairly quickly for those that become more accomplished. Whether you rise through the industry as a personal support worker or choose another path, you can make your decision now knowing that this field is growing and will present job security for quite some time to come.

Attributes of a Good Personal Support Worker School

By Cynthia Herron

Because personal support worker is becoming a very popular career choice for people, there seems to be more and more schools popping up that offer certificates and degrees of some type. Before attending a personal support worker school, you need to make sure that your choice is indeed a certified institution whose certificate will land you a position out in the real world.

Here are a few things to look out for when selecting a Personal Support Worker School:

Personal support worker school itself should not be a very long program. The education is meant to train you in the basics of being a personal support worker in the most common environments. You can expect to be out in the real working world in less than a year with most programs.

In order for the school to be officially recognized, it will have to be accredited. If it does not have accreditation, there is no sense to even considering attending.

To make yourself more attractive as a candidate to any employer, you should become certified after completing your studies.

Most respectable schools will also have a placement program to help their students land a position once they have completed their program. This help is instrumental in starting a career as even though the industry is hot right now, having an “in” can sometimes mean the difference between finding work right away versus trudging around from office to office to see who is hiring.

Personal Support Worker Program Prepares Grads For In-Demand Career in 24 Weeks

Kevin Duncalfe - Guest Blogger

Seats still available for upcoming class at Scarborough campus

CDI College is responding to the increased demand for well-trained healthcare professionals in Ontario by offering additional start dates for the Personal Support Worker program at its campus in Scarborough.

"With a growing aging population, the demand for qualified and compassionate healthcare professionals continues to increase throughout the province," says Larry Heinzlmeir, VP of Marketing for CDI College. "The Personal Support Worker program provides the education and practical training graduates need to work in this essential role."

The Personal Support Worker program provides students with the skills and knowledge to provide optimal support and assistance to clients in a range of healthcare settings. In 24 weeks, students learn about the personal support worker role in Ontario's healthcare system. Along with developing household management and interpersonal skills, they also learn to provide assistance with mobility, personal hygiene and medications. Because personal support workers are on the front line of care, students train to manage ongoing conditions, work with families and assist those who are dying. They also cover the key issues of client safety and identifying abuse.

In order to graduate, students must participate in a clinical placement that allows them to work under the supervision of a healthcare professional and gain hands-on experience on the job. Graduates are prepared for jobs in a range of settings, including, long-term care facilities, home healthcare agencies, hospices, group homes, adult day centres and more.

 

A Stable Workforce Is Essential for People With Disabilities

Cynthia Herron

A little over one year ago, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed that the people who provide support for people with disabilities and elders should be guaranteed at least minimum wage and overtime for the work they do. Currently, these workers are exempt from these labor protections, which are provided to most workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

For people with disabilities, direct-care staff are essential to our ability to live independently. They provide all sorts of help -- from making it possible for us to work to assisting with the functioning of our homes and doing what it takes to help us get to civic and social events, places of worship and school.

"As someone who has used personal support worker (PSW) services for over 20 years," says Scott Goyette of Vermont, "I can state unequivocally that quality, reliable PCA care directly affects my own quality of life. My ability to be an active, contributing member of the community is made possible by the invaluable work of my PCAs."

Our direct-care staff are people who must, in many cases, deal with the unpredictability of our health and needs, basic bodily functions and frustrations with our situations. We must often rely on their skills and compassion to watch out for threats to our safety. We count on them to show up, leave their troubles at home and navigate with us through our days, responding to what we ask of them when we are at our most vulnerable.

Christina Battista of Rhode Island, notes, "Without my PCA's assistance, I would not have been able to go to college and get my bachelor's degree in psychology, work as a cross-disability coordinator and volunteer on many of the boards and committees that I do. My life would not be as rewarding as it is today."

Christina and Scott are members of the National Participant Network (NPN), an organization of people who direct their own long- term services and supports. The NPN aims to improve the lives of people with disabilities. We strongly believe this means that all people must be honored for what they contribute to society. And that includes the PCAs who support us every day.

To consider PCAs not worthy of the labor protections afforded to almost every other worker is an insult. It says that our society believes that those who care for us -- as well as our relatives and our friends -- day in and day out are not as valued as those who prepare fast food and perform other "minimum wage" jobs. And it reflects the idea that those who need direct-care staff are less important than french fries.

Christina explains, "My personal support worker and I have been together for several years, because she was able to support herself with the full-time living wages she earns. If she were to receive less than minimum wage, she would not be able to work for me any longer. Because of her longevity in her job, we have a relationship. She is able to make me comfortable with highly sensitive areas of support, such as personal hygiene and finances. I wouldn't trust someone I didn't know as well."

With the ever-increasing need for long term care as our nation ages, it makes sense to cultivate the people on whom we will depend. After all, our nation will need 5 million direct-care staff by 2020, more direct-care workers than nurses or teachers, according to PHI (the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute.)

We want them to bring their best to the job and even consider it as a career. In some cases, all that is needed is someone to watch for seizures in the night, or to make sure Mom doesn't get lost on the way to the grocery store. But regardless of the specific task, direct-care staff make a commitment to helping each one of us live the life we want -- and for that they should be paid fairly.

"Direct care is a viable, stimulating profession and shouldn't be treated as less by paying below legal minimum wage," says Stevie Bass, an NPN member in New Mexico who has a daughter with multiple disabilities. "Direct-care work offers the opportunity for personal growth and long-term stable employment and satisfaction for the worker. However, direct-care staff cannot remain in these jobs without a good legal living wage."

Direct-care staff are indispensable to all NPN members. As Scott says, "paying less than minimum wage -- and denying overtime where applicable -- makes no sense for PCAs, participants or the communities in which they live."

Now that President Obama has been reelected, it is time to follow through on his administration's promise to ensure that personal support workers receive minimum wage and overtime protections. It's the right thing to do -- for our workers and for us.