Tips on Avoiding Burnout for Personal Support Workers

We’ve all been there.  On the edge.  We’ve had enough.  In short, we feel burned out.  This is something that every personal support worker has gone through.  Here are some tips to avoid burnout as much as possible.

1)   Monitor Your Diet and Exercise:  We have to monitor our patient’s diet, yet we often don’t monitor our own diet, and our job requires us to have a certain level of fitness.  So I suggest strongly that you monitor your diet and engage in a regular exercise program.

2)   Get The Proper Amount Of Sleep:  This probably seems like something that should be intuitive but it’s not.  When we are young, we need less sleep, but as we get older we need more.  Yet sleep is the one thing we give up on a regular basis.  Sleep is the one thing that really helps you to rejuvenate.  Ensure that you always get enough sleep.

3)   Be Honest About How Many Days You Can Really Work:  Not everyone can do this type of work full time.  Maybe for you, it makes sense to work part time.  Also, due to factors like the economy, we don’t always take enough time off.  Please take as much time off as you need to.

4)   Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help At Work:  Sometimes we find ourselves in difficult situations at work.  If you find yourself in such circumstances, always ask for help.  There is no need to carry the entire load yourself.

Follow these tips and they will help you avoid burnout at work as much as possible.

Labour Market Information For Personal Support Workers

By Cynthia Herron
As the Canadian economy emerges from the current recession, a number of industry sectors will see above average growth to 2015. Among these are occupations in the healthcare field. 　The demographics of the Canadian population will be a major factor in the Canadian economy, affecting both labour market demand and supply. Seventy percent of new jobs to 2015 will be as a result of attrition (retirements, deaths) of existing employees. At the same time, the aging population (and its disproportionate medical needs) will create even greater demand for jobs in occupations in the healthcare field (e.g., personal support workers). 　

Now, more women work outside the home and cannot give full-time care to family members who are elderly, ill or have a disability. As well, the Ontario government has an Aging at Home Strategy. This means that more people may get health care at home instead of at the hospital. This has resulted in substantially more job openings for Personal Support Workers. 　

As healthcare costs rise, that industry will continue to look at cost-cutting strategies. One of these is to "push down" duties currently performed by higher-cost employees (e.g., nurses) to lower-cost staff (e.g., personal support workers), creating more of these types of job opportunities. As a result, the outlook or job prospects for this field are rated as exceptionally good by HRSDC