To bad they werent as fast when it came to the trades… I havent heard much about being short in this field but we hear so much about the shortage in trades…

With trades programs, it’s often a question of the difficulty in tooling up to provide extra spaces. That is one place where industry could step up to the plate and provide the equipment and materials to allow the college to provide more spaces, which does happen but perhaps not often enough.

It is a medical field. They have been short in that field for a long time and will likely continue to be short.

This particular job category goes under various names. In BC, they need to be registered with the Care Aide Registry.

Here is a link to an example position in Dawson Creek. $22.83/hour for grade 10 education and a program which will take anywhere between 6 to 8 months to complete.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
– Ability to communication both verbally and in writing.
– Ability to deal with others effectively.
– Physical ability to carry out the duties of the position.
– Ability to organize work.
– Ability to operate related equipment.

expectmore.northernhealth.ca/ViewPosting.aspx?id=5186113&f=501-0-0–2-0&bid=326

Might be a real good idea to find out what is going on with Otway Road and the speed enforcement before Columbia Bithulitic. The city changed the limit from 70 to 50 after all the accidents (15+) 2 years ago. The problem according to the city streets foreman was that Miworth residents could not drive. The real problem was about 100 feet of no shoulder which caused vehicles to lose control after dropping off the road. The amazing thing is that after the city fixed the shoulder that spring there has not been one accident, so I quess the conclusion is by fixing the shoulder Miworth residents learned to drive.

I find the skills/abilities to be very sanitized. Here is a sample of what a health care assistant does.

• Provides patients’ personal hygiene by giving bedpans, urinals, baths, backrubs, shampoos, and shaves; assisting with travel to the bathroom; helping with showers and baths.
• Provides for activities of daily living by assisting with serving meals, feeding patients as necessary; ambulating, turning, and positioning patients; providing fresh water and nourishment between meals.
• Provides adjunct care by administering enemas, douches, non-sterile dressings, surgical preps, ice packs, heat treatments, sitz and therapeutic baths; applying restraints.
• Maintains patient stability by checking vital signs and weight; recording intake and output information.
• Provides patient comfort by utilizing resources and materials; transporting patients; answering patients’ call lights and requests; reporting observations of the patient to nursing supervisor.
• Documents actions by completing forms, reports, logs, and records.
• Maintains work operations by following policies and procedures.
• Protects organization’s value by keeping patient information confidential.
• Serves and protects the hospital community by adhering to professional standards, hospital policies and procedures.
• Updates job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities;
• Enhances nursing department and hospital reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to job accomplishments

@restjet: maybe read the topic before you post your response.

@gopg2015: what do your posts have to do with the need for more health care assistants? We have an aging population and HCA’s largely tend to provide the bulk of the care to the elderly in elder-care facilities. Stands to reason that we will need more of them.

Sorry, how do you post a topic not listed?

You wait until Friday for the Free for All and you can say whatever you want. But for what it’s worth, if the posted limit is 50 the speed most drive is 60 and some 70. So if they go back to 70, that bumps up to 80 and 90, so I think that’s why they left it there – so that people would do no more than 70.

Krusty wrote: “what do your posts have to do with the need for more health care assistants?”

I am really trying to figure out why you wrote that after reading my posts. My first post supports you point and was in response to P Val’s and repeated a current position available in Dawson Creek listing the skills. That is an HCA position.

My second post dealt with a health care assistant job description as applied to a hospital. The key word is “health”, which is the word used in the title. That is what the training/education program which is the subject of this article is about. As it says at the end of the article “They work in a variety of settings including acute care (hospital), residential care, home and community care including independent living and assisted living.

From my experience with my parents it is high time that the education and training for those who do work with the elderly teach more about empathy, prevention of elderly abuse, etc. I totally realize that because there is no specialized training for that in these parts and most parts of the province and Canada, those who are hired do not have the appropriate training.

I doubt that the program described in this article will spend much time on social and recreational needs, for instance.

@gopg2015: OK, that makes it a lot clearer. You’re right in that HCA’s don’t get a lot of training in the prevention of elder abuse, something that by and large falls to social workers within the medical system. Nor are HCA’s responsible for social and recreational needs, although they play a role in both. Many residential care units do not hire a sufficient number of recreational therapists or coordinators, a position typically requiring at least a diploma (2 years or more) if not a degree (4 years or more).
Also, you should know that the scope of practice for HCA’s has increased quite a bit over the past decade. They can now take vital signs, even if they aren’t permitted to interpret them. The entry requirements have also increased quite a bit, with applicants required to have their full grade 10 education (English, academic math, social studies, and science), not just a grade 10 reading levels as it once was.