Taking a Personal Support Worker Course

Are you looking for a fulfilling career? Do you want to help people? A personal support worker career may be what you're looking for.

With the increased average age of the national population, personal support workers are currently one of the most in demand healthcare workers in North America, and this is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Personal support worker courses are designed to prepare students for these tremendous career opportunities. Graduates of Personal Support Worker courses can find employment in nursing homes, hospitals, private homes, non-profit organizations and agencies.

Some of the best PSW courses will even help students find a placement for you following your in-class training. Job placements will give you the opportunity to apply your theoretical skills in a professional setting that will help you gain confidence through hands-on training, and practical experience in a real work setting.

PSW courses prepare students for careers in a wide range of healthcare positions, facilities and settings. Typically these programs include the following areas of studies:

• Individuality of the Patient (each patient has different needs)


• Role of the Personal Support Worker


• Development of Interpersonal Skills


• Safety Standards


• Assisting a Person with Mobility


• Abuse Recognition and Required Action


• Household Management and Meal Preparation


• Optimal Support Requirements


• Care Planning


• Personal Hygiene Assistance


• Assisting the Family/Coping Mechanisms


• Cognitive Impairment and Mental Health Issues


• Assisting the Client in Managing their Ongoing Condition


• Medication Assistance/Administering and Educating


• Assisting the Client Who is Dying


• Practicalities of Daily Living, Use of Specific Support Devices


• Diagnostic and Treatment Procedures


• Arranged Nursing Home Placement and a Community Placement


• CPR / First Aid (included)

The life of a personal support worker is varied and full. Some or all of the following duties performed by a PSW include:

• Answering call signals; serving meal trays, feeding or assisting in feeding of patients and assisting patients with menu selection; lifting, turning or massaging patients; shaving patients prior to operations; supervising patients' exercise routines, setting up and providing leisure activities for patients, and accompanying patients on outside recreational activities; and performing other duties related to patient care


• Taking patients' blood pressure, temperature and pulse; reporting or recording fluid intake and output; observing or monitoring patients' status and documenting patient care on charts; collecting specimens such as urine; administering suppositories, colonic irrigations and enemas and performing other procedures as directed by nursing and hospital staff


• Transporting patients by wheelchair or stretcher for treatment or surgery


• Carrying messages, reports, requisitions and specimens from one department to another


• Making beds and maintaining patients' rooms


• Maintaining inventory of supplies


• Performing maintenance tasks such as assisting with the set-up and maintenance of traction equipment, cleaning or sterilizing equipment, maintaining and repairing equipment, and assembling, setting-up and operating job-related equipment.