personal support worker - home support

Work site environment

• Non-smoking
• Palliative care

Work setting

• Remote location
• Rural area
• Various locations
• Work in employer's/client's home
• Relocation costs not covered by employer
• Local or regional level
• Health and medicine
• Community-based or local
• Retirement home
• Residential/client's home
• Chronic or long-term care facilities/centres
• Health care institution, facility or clinic
• Home care and visiting care agency
• Long term care center

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Care for pets
• Administer bedside and personal care
• Assist clients with bathing and other aspects of personal hygiene
• Assist in regular exercise, e.g., walk
• Change non-sterile dressings
• Collect specimens
• Feed or assist in feeding
• Launder clothing and household linens
• Perform light housekeeping and cleaning duties
• Plan therapeutic diets and menus
• Provide companionship
• Provide personal care
• Shop for food and household supplies
• Prepare and serve nutritious meals
• Cook
• Transport patients to hospital or other medical facility for further medical care
• Skin care
• Shampoo customers' hair
• Serve meal trays and feed patients
• Prepare meals
• Manipulate or apply pressure to various parts of the body, hands and feet
• Ensure infection control
• Examine patients' teeth, gums and surrounding tissue
• Ensure that local health and sanitation regulations are carried out
• Drive employers (including family members) to and from destination
• Document and record nature of injuries and treatment provided
• Body care/treatments
• Apply and remove temporary dressings
• Apply psychological theory and principles regarding behaviour and mental processes
• Document and report deviations from specifications and tolerances
• Document work completed
• Light cleaning duties
• Provide pre-operative and post-operative personal and comfort care
• Liaise with other social services agencies and health care providers involved with clients
• Assess clients by conducting range of motion and muscle tests and propose treatment plans
• Document patient rehabilitation progress
• Aid in the prevention of inadequate nutrition
• Prepare and cook complete meals or individual dishes and foods
• Examine patients to assess general physical condition
• Evaluate mobility, balance, gait and posture
• Document observations on patients' specimens
• Assess people’s physical limitations, orientation abilities and mobility to establish client rehabilitation
• Apply aseptic techniques including sterile dressing
• Analyze hair and scalp condition

Credentials

Certificates, licences, memberships, and courses 

• Developmental services worker (DSW) Training
• Geriatric Certificate
• Mental health first aid Certificate
• Relationship development intervention (RDI) training
• Understanding and managing aggressive behaviour (UMAB) course
• CPR Certificate
• First Aid Certificate
• Health Care Aide Certificate
• Personal Support Worker Certificate

Experience and specialization

Target audience

• Persons with Alzheimer's disease
• Adults
• Convalescent
• Elderly
• Females
• Males
• Persons with a disability
• Persons with an intellectual disability
• Persons with mental health disabilities
• Persons with physical disabilities
• Terminally ill

Area of work experience

• Health
• Health promotion

Area of specialization

• Ambulatory monitoring

Additional information

Security and safety

• Criminal record check
• Confidential security clearance
• Basic security clearance
• Reference required
• Bondable
• Child Abuse Registry check
• Driver's validity licence check
• Immunization records
• Tuberculosis test
• Adult Abuse Registry check
• Vulnerable sector check

Transportation/travel information

• Own transportation
• Own vehicle
• Willing to travel
• Willing to travel regularly
• Valid driver's licence
• Public transportation is not available

Work conditions and physical capabilities

• Bending, crouching, kneeling
• Combination of sitting, standing, walking
• Fast-paced environment
• Handling heavy loads
• Physically demanding
• Repetitive tasks
• Sitting
• Walking
• Work under pressure

Weight handling

• Up to 23 kg (50 lbs)
• Between 45 and 60 kg (100-132 lbs)

Personal suitability

• Punctuality
• Client focus
• Dependability
• Efficient interpersonal skills
• Excellent oral communication
• Flexibility
• Initiative
• Judgement
• Organized
• Reliability
• Team player
• Patience
• Honesty

Benefits

Financial benefits

• Bonus

Other benefits

• Other benefits
• Team building opportunities