As the world faces one of the biggest health crises in history, careers in healthcare continue to see a rise in demand, not only in hospitals but also in long-term care facilities and home care settings. While people return to work past the lockdowns, more and more families are looking for caregivers to provide their loved ones with the support they need to perform their daily activities. This is precisely the job of a Personal Support Worker (PSW) and in this article Caring Support will tell you all about PSW (personal support worker) jobs.
A personal support worker is a caregiver that specializes in providing support to ill or elderly people with their domestic needs. Their job is basically to provide long or short-term care to those who cannot provide for themselves. By doing this, they help people optimize their quality of life despite their illnesses or disabilities.
An appropriately trained personal support worker can meet the supportive, physical, and psycho-social needs of the person they are caring for, according to the Ontario PSW association, which is a Chapter of the Canadian Support Workers Association. This means they have the right skills to make sure their clients are comfortable, safe, and enjoying emotional and physical well-being.
Although personal support worker is the most common title for these caregivers, the National Occupational Classification (NOC) allows workers performing similar duties to also be referred to as personal aides, home support workers, personal care attendants, health care aides, nursing attendant, respite care workers, palliative care workers, supportive care assistants or patient services associates. The titles vary depending upon the healthcare facility or home care the personal support worker is providing.
Personal support workers are currently in high demand in Canada, not only because of the pandemic but also because there are more of them retiring than those beginning this career path, therefore landing a job will not be difficult.
And while some might say that becoming a PSW is the fastest way to start a career in healthcare and move up from there, the Ontario PSW association assures that being a PSW is “a fulfilling healthcare career that allows you to directly make a difference in the lives of your clients.” In fact, the organization’s goal is “to make the PSW a profession of choice in the Health Care field and not just as a stepping stone.”
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Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) states that personal support workers are responsible for performing duties such as: caring for people and families during periods of illness or recovery; providing bedside and personal care to clients, helping them move, bathe, groom, and get dressed and undressed; and giving them oral medications as instructed by their home care agency or supervisor.
Additionally, ESDC assures that PSWs can plan and prepare meals for their clients; help them with light housekeeping (for example, doing their laundry, washing their dishes, sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming, and making their beds); or simply spend time talking to their clients. In other cases, they can even teach new parents to care for an infant.
Being a personal support worker is a fulfilling career path that plays a vital role in society, but it comes with certain challenges. Because of this, PSW jobs require a specific set of skills that will allow these caregivers to succeed in this occupation and make a difference in the lives of the vulnerable people they provide support to. Most of these skills cannot be learned since they are part of an individual’s personality.
PSWs need the following skills, according to personalsupportworker.com:
Cestar College also describes how PSWs need to have knowledge about the common health conditions of these potential clients (like arthritis, hypertension, and heart disease), especially for the elderly demographic; how they need to have familiarity with common cognitive problems and mental health issues that their clients could suffer from (depression, anxiety, dementia); and how they need to know the best practices in nutrition, hydration and assisting with medication.
Additionally, the college based in Toronto states that a vital skill for PSWs is being able to safely operate mobility machinery or devices like sit-to-stand lifts and Hoyer lifts. These types of equipment are used to help clients who have highly limited mobility.
To become a personal support worker a person doesn’t need to get a certification, but they do need to go through specific training and get a diploma, according to settlement.org. Additionally, to become a PSW, a high school diploma is required and the average work experience in the field to land a job is between none to two years. Because of this, the job is considered an entry-level position in the healthcare field. This is also the reason why the job is sometimes performed under the supervision of a registered health professional (RHP), following an established plan of care for a patient.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in Ontario, along with the Ontario Community Support Association, were the organizations that established the parameters and requirements that all aspiring PSWs need to meet to obtain a diploma in this field. However, since PSWs are unregulated health care providers, there are no governing body setting standards for the skills and knowledge needed to practice this occupation.
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For personal support workers, salaries depend on many variables such as experience, continuous training, skills, ability to speak and read in another language, and the facilities where they work (hospitals or long-term care homes pay the highest wages, for instance). Moreover, the province where they offer their services also determines their salary, with Ontario being among the highest paying across Canada at a minimum of $16.50 per hour, according to the Department of Employment and Social Development.
It should be pointed out that since 2015 the province of Ontario has been implementing a PSW wage enhancement initiative for those who provide publicly funded personal support services. Back then it was said the decision was intended to better recognize the important role played by the approximately 100,000 PSWs that work in Ontario’s health care system.
The average PSW salaries in Ontario are these:
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PSW jobs are in high demand across Canada, which is great news for anyone looking for PSW jobs in Ottawa and the rest of Ontario. One of the best ways to have a successful job hunt is to find a way to connect with employers that are actively hiring for the specific roles you are looking for. How? By joining our Caring Support Platform.
When you join our community, you not only gain access to the most innovative healthcare employment platform on the market right now but also get to benefit from unique perks like free resume builder, expedited and affordable police checks (some employers require this!), an exclusive marketplace for healthcare workers, detailed profiles where you can upload all your certifications and even a video resume, and many resources more. In a nutshell, everything you need to land a PSW job in Ottawa or anywhere else in Ontario.
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Personal support worker’s career prospects in Canada are on the rise, which means there is a bright future for these jobs in the local healthcare sector. Labour market information trends point out that since the Canadian population keeps ageing (as of July 1, 2020, 18% of Canadians were 65 years of age or older, according to Statistics Canada) and more people have joined the workforce, many families cannot provide full-time care to their elderly, ill or disabled members, thus they are looking for home support workers and health care aides to assist their loved ones at home.
In addition to this, in Ontario, the local government has been pushing an "Aging at Home" strategy for years now, to ensure seniors have the services they need to allow them to “stay healthy and live independently and with dignity in their homes.” This may lead to more job openings for PSWs, as elderly Canadians get health care at home instead of at the hospital.
In closing, if you are a PSW or are planning to become one, remember you can sign up for Caring Support to start developing your career with the numerous employment opportunities we have available. Create your free account today.
