Nominations Open for Personal Support Worker of the Year Award

Nominations are now open for the PSW of the Year Award.  With number of outstanding PSW’s in Ontario, this award will recognize the work of one exceptional PSW.  The award will be presented in October.  Nominees must work in the Province of Ontario, be nominated by a third party, and must consent to their nomination.  Nominations are evaluated on the following criteria:

·         Work History

·         Professional Knowledge

·         Advocacy

·         Patient Care

·         Going Beyond The Call of Duty

·         Team Support

Nominations must arrive at the offices of the PersonalSupport Network of Ontario no later than Friday, September 19, 2014.  For more information visit PSNO PersonalSupport Worker of the Year Award website.

Typical Personal Support Worker Education Program Outline

Major: Personal Support Worker

Length: One Year

Delivery: 2 Semesters

Typical Credential: College Certificate

Sector Screening Check Required

Description

This two semester program is designed to prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed to provide personal support worker services to people living at home and in long term care facilities and to function as integral members of the health care team. Upon graduation from this program, the graduate will have demonstrated the ability to effectively communicate with clients, families and members of the health care team. They will also have demonstrated their ability to provide safe and competent personal support work care for individual clients who are experiencing physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural challenges.

Personal Support Workers are unregulated health care providers who work under the supervision of a regulated health care professional or in the supported independent living environment under the direction of the client. They provide clearly identified personal care and they facilitate routine activities of daily living in order to assist their clients in being as healthy and as independent as possible.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the Personal Support Worker program find employment in retirement homes, nursing homes, homes for the aged, various community agencies (private and public) as well as in independent practice.

Program Learning Outcomes

The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

·              work effectively as a team member and demonstrate an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the other members of the health care team;

·              provide personal support worker services for individuals and families from a variety of cultures and diverse backgrounds fostering trust, respect and individual choice;

·              practice under the supervision/direction of the employer, client or family caregiver within their role and the legislation governing the setting in which they work;

·              provide professional, safe and effective personal support work services to individuals and their families in all activities of daily living;

·              support the application of the concepts of health promotion, maintenance and rehabilitation;

·              recognize own strengths and limitations within the concept of providing personal support work services and seek out guidance appropriately;

·              recognize and report changes in the client's condition, health state, situation, and/or routine activities of living and report these changes to the appropriate member of the health care team;

·              recognize indicators of abuse and respond appropriately

Links To Sources Of U.S. Government Student Aid

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Financial Aid for Personal Support Worker Students

By Cynthia Herron

When you make the decision to return to school, the last thing you want looming over your head is the cost of the education. Stressing about paying for school defeats the motivation to do well in school, creating a lack of comprehension to the program altogether. Personal support worker students today have a great range of options when it comes to financial aid to pay for their education, offering as much as 100% towards the overall costs of schooling.

Grants for Personal Support Worker School
When it comes to personal support worker school financial aid, grants can be the most desirable as they never have to be repaid. Getting grants today can be so simple with several resources online that can connect you directly to the grants you qualify for.

Scholarships for Personal Support Worker Students
There are also many scholarships offered for personal support worker students, offered through several organizations today. Finding these scholarship programs is simple online with large databanks of different programs available.

Student Loans and Fellowships
Other financial aid options offered to personal support worker students include student loans including the Canada Student Loans Program and the Pell Grant Program.   Fellowships are also offered through various to offer that extra helping hand in affording a degree today. The education you receive will mandate the course of your career and you should be able to afford the best. These loans and fellowships just offer extra funding on top of others you may qualify for.

Non-Loan Options for Personal Support Worker Students

It's also possible to gain aid in the form of work study. That way you don't need to take out a loan, but instead 'work your way through school'. Even if you can't afford school on work study wages, you can help offset your loans by gaining some employment.

Getting financial aid for personal support worker certification is a common practice of students today that understand they need the education but just may not have college funding set aside. Many people these days just don’t have a college fund waiting for them to make their decision to pursue higher learning, but certification is a highly critical element of successful advancement into the healthcare industry today. If you desire a personal support worker career, you don’t have to hesitate because of the lack of finances, with many governmental, public, and private funding resources available for students in college today, offered throughout your entire education.

Soft Skills and Hard Skills that Personal Support Workers Need to Have

When considering a career in the healthcare field you need not just your basic qualifications but you need another set of skills.  You will need what we call soft skills and hard skills.  In this article we are going to focus on the soft and hard skills needed to become an effective personal support worker.

Soft Skills

These are skills that allow a personal support worker to do their job effectively.  Without soft skills a nursing assistant is not able to convey the impression of compassion to their clients/patients.   Simply put, a personal support worker without soft skills will not be very effective.  Here are some of the soft skills required:

Empathy/Compassion.  Every personal support worker gets frustrated with their patients; however it is important to remember that your patients are just as frustrated as you are.  Remember, your patients are feeling vulnerable and frustrated due to their conditions and the fact that they are relying on you.  Put yourself in their shoes and your frustration, while not going away completely, will recede a bit.

Time Management Skills.  Typically a personal support worker does an 8 hour shift and handles 8-10 patients.  Each patient typically has their4 own unique needs and as a result you cannot simply divide your time equally among them.  As you get to know your patients and their needs you develop a natural timeline for your shift, and you will include your breaks and lunches in this timeline.

Patience.  Personal support workers must have patience to do their jobs.  As we said earlier in the empathy section, sometimes you need to put yourself in your patient’s shoes and then you will have the patience to deal with their resistance to what must be done. 

Ability to Work in a Team.  Personal support workers typically work in teams.  This means teamwork and communication about patient needs and issues is a must.

Hard Skills.

These are the skills needed for a personal support worker to be able to do their jobs.  Specifically we are talking about the physical requirements needed in moving patients with little or no mobility.  A personal support worker needs to know how to pivot or spin a patient with little mobility to move them from a bed to a chair.  Also, a personal support worker needs to know how to use the Hoyer Lift, to move a patient from a bed to a chair, and the Sit-to-Stand Lift to help patients move from sitting to standing.

These soft and hard skills are essential for anyone who wants to become a personal support worker.

Personal Support Worker - Actual Interview Questions

By Cynthia Herron

After recently completing a personal support worker job interview, one of our writers was kind enough to share some of the questions that were ‘fired’ their way during the interview process.

Practice and formulate your own answers for these questions (and any other questions that you can think of) before any job interview in this field. In-fact, it would be recommended to ask yourself these questions about an employer before applying, putting some of the answers into your cover letter and listing some of the important qualifications, attributes and skills within your resume.

Onto the questions (listed in random order):

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What are your strengths, weaknesses, attributes?

What is your definition of on the job confidentiality? (regarding clients, workplace situations, etc)

The answers to procedural questions (how to fill out an incident report, operating lifts, wheelchair vans or any other employer specific duties and tasks)

How did you find out about this company?

Explain a difficult situation with a co-worker. How did you solve it?

What are your accreditations, achievements, certifications, etc? (where you went to school, first-aid, cpr, and any other relevant info)

Why are you the right person for this position?

Why did you choose to become a personal support worker?

If you could improve one thing about yourself (on the job related), what would it be?

Are you able to work by yourself and within a team environment?

If you witness client abuse while on the job, what is the first thing that you do?

PSW’s Need Dementia Specific Training

The role of a Personal Support Worker within the healthcare system has evolved significantly.  The services they provide have become very diverse.  As a result, continuous training and education for Personal Support Workers has become paramount.  One area which tends to be overlooked when it comes to training is the area of Personal Support Worker dealing with patients in various stages of dementia.

Dementia is an often misunderstood disease that primarily affects the elderly.  Because many front line workers such as Personal Support Workers and Nursing Assistants are not specifically trained to deal with the requirements and needs of patients with dementia, they tend to infantilize them, which lead to the exacerbation of the indignity patients suffering from dementia feel.

Seeing the need for dementia specific training for front line workers in Ontario, the Alzheimer’s Society of Toronto developed specific training modules that they offer to front line workers.  These courses are taught in Toronto and offer Certification in Dementia Specific Services.  For more information about these courses you can contact the Alzheimer’s Society at 416-322-6560, or click here to register.

The reality is that 1 in 6 seniors in Canada suffer some form of dementia, and a properly trained front line is essential to provide them services.