Personal Support Worker Courses

In this course, students will be introduced to academic writing styles with a thematic focus on current issues. This course will help students to express themselves clearly and correctly in written form. Students will critically analyse assigned readings and express their thoughts. The course will also focus on the development of an academic paper utilizing the APA style of documentation.

This course introduces the learner to the development of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship. The learner will study the concepts of caring and collaboration; client and family-centred care; and the maintenance of professional boundaries and therapeutic communication as constructs of the helping relationship. Exploring the "Therapeutic Nurse-Client Relationship (Revised, 2006)" (College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), 2019), learners will engage in an in-depth discussion of the components of trust, respect, professional intimacy, empathy, and power/abuse of power. This course will examine the six principles of the "Code of Conduct" (CNO, 2019), which guides nurses' and other healthcare professionals' (HCPs) obligations and provides a framework for understanding the public's expectations of nursing. Additionally, this course integrates evidence-informed practice by incorporating the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) Best Practice Guideline, Transitions in Care and Services (2nd Ed.). This guideline will enhance the learner's understanding of effectively managing transitions in care, ensuring continuity of care, and maintaining quality client care. This course will support the knowledge, skills, judgment, and nursing attitudes required during all clinical and simulation experiences throughout the Practical Nursing program.

The course is a combination of theory, laboratory skills, and simulations to support the role of the Personal Support Worker in a variety of health care settings. The foundation of this course focuses on the Personal Support Worker role in the care planning process and implementation. Through knowledge and skill acquisition, the Personal Support Worker student learns to execute basic and advance skills to support the personal support worker role and collaborate with clients, families and the interprofessional team. Skills learned in this course encompass infection prevention and control, safety, activities of daily living, urinary and bowel elimination, medications, nutrition, and vital signs. As these skills are developed, the Personal Support Worker will learn documentation and reporting of information to supervisors, regulated health care professionals, and the interprofessional team.

The course provides the learner with the foundational theoretical concepts to support the Personal Support Worker role across the life span and a variety of health care environments. Through the foundation of the nursing process, basic assessment, care planning process and documentation, the learner will develop their knowledge base of infection prevention and control, medical terminology, health promotion, disease and illness prevention, holistic health, cultural competence, nutrition, urinary and bowel elimination, common disorders, and basic pharmacology. This course will support the knowledge that is required throughout laboratory, simulation, and clinical scenarios in the Personal Support Worker program.

This course will examine the concepts of the Canadian health care system, legislation, consumer rights, including ethical and safe practice in relation to the role and scope of the Personal Support Worker. Thoughtful analysis of client centered care practices will be enhanced through discussions around health, wellness, diversity, and the social determinants of health. The course will provide an overview of the various opportunities for Personal Support Workers, offer insight into job preparedness, and explore concepts around time and stress management to enhance success within the classroom and the workplace.

This course will provide the learner with a basic understanding of the human body. Understanding structure of the human body and how it relates to our functions lays a foundation for the learner to identify common diseases and conditions that will help them to provide the care that each client needs. This course will support the knowledge that is required during clinical placements.

This course will provide the learner with opportunities to examine the role of the personal support worker when caring for individuals across the life span. The learner will utilize and implement knowledge and fundamental skills for the personal support worker including gentle persuasive approach and behaviour management in the community and long term care settings. This course is evenly distributed between the community and long term setting to prepare a competent holistic personal support worker for all clinical settings. The learner is expected to safely integrate the care planning process through applying the role of the personal support worker in all past and present courses including skills acquired in the laboratory and simulation setting.

This clinical experience will provided the learner with the opportunity to consolidate skills and knowledge obtained throughout the Personal Support Worker program. The learner is expected to safely integrate the care planning process through applying the knowledge and skills in the role of the Personal Support Worker. In collaboration with a Personal Support Worker preceptor in the clinical setting, the learner will gradually increase their practice to the graduate level and prepare to enter practice as a Personal Support Worker. This clinical experience will take place in a community or long-term care setting of the learner's choosing in consultation with the Program Coordinator.

This course provides a more in-depth look at the nursing process, basic assessment and client care, which will help prepare the learner for their role as a member of an interprofessional team. Enhanced knowledge of various common disorders, communicable diseases, alterations in speech and language, hearing and vision impairments, mental health disorders, disorientation, delirium, and various forms of dementia will be covered. This course is also designed to support the knowledge and skills for clinical practice of PW 200.

This course will focus on applying the Personal Support Worker (PSW) scope of practice to assisting and caring for clients and their families across the lifespan. The learner will apply the concepts of holistic and client centered care to clients and their families at various stages of growth. Using Gordon's Functional Framework (1994), the learner will gain an understanding of the unique needs of clients including physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, social, personality, and sexual needs at various stages across the lifespan. This course will support the knowledge that is required during clinical placements.