Long term care and assisted living leaders provide required workplace training to your health care support workers and provide support to your care team, residents and families.
As part of the Health Care Access Program, long term care and assisted living leaders provide workplace orientation and training for their health care support workers before they begin their formal educational training.
Training and orientation for your facility care team, residents and families is also an essential part of supporting the success of the Health Career Access Program.
Providing orientation to your health care support workers
Health care support workers are required to complete six steps as part of their orientation and ongoing training. More details about workplace training is available to HCAP participants.
Workplace training takes approximately 93-107 hours to complete, or approximately 12-14 days paid time.
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Step one: Prior to first day
Recommended training:
- Getting Started webinar video - approx. 21m
Required training:
- Provincial standard health care support worker orientation - approx 22h 20m
- Additional provincial online requirements/safety resources checklist - approx 2h 45m
Required training for Fraser Health employees:
- Fraser Health New Employee Required Learning course - approximately 4h
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Step two: Within six weeks of hiring
Fraser Health employees:
In-person or virtual violence prevention training (approx. 8h) is required for high risk environments:
- Fraser Health virtual/classroom-based Violence Prevention course - approximately 8h
Affiliated (contracted) or non-affiliated (private pay) facility employees
Provide health care support workers with the information regarding classroom/virtual violence prevention education used at your site.
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Step three: Worksite orientation
Review the health care support worker site orientation PowerPoint with your health care support worker, customizing the information to your facility as needed.
Orient your health care support workers to the site and to your policies and procedures, per your usual new employee processes.
A list of items to cover include:
Site orientation and overview of facility/work location
Name and contact information of supervisor
Name and contact information for occupational health and safety committee
Employers’ and workers’ rights and responsibilities under the Workers Compensation Act and occupational health and safety regulations
Employer’s health and safety program
Workplace health and safety rules
Potential workplace hazards (e.g. violence, exposure to infectious agents)
Working alone procedures
Violence in the workplace (e.g. how risk is communicated, reporting, etc.)
Point-of-care risk assessment
Hand washing stations (soap and water and/or alcohol-based hand rub)
Personal protective equipment (location, use [including demonstration])
Physical distancing markers
Emergency codes and procedures applicable to your area
Location of first aid and how to get first aid
WHIMIS information
Orientation shifts
Introduction to the care team
Check-in procedures when reporting for shift
Site documentation procedures
On-site appropriate staff break areas
Human resource processes and forms
Leave requests (vacation and reporting absences)
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Step four: Schedule mentor shifts
Ensure orientation shifts are scheduled for the health care support workers with other members of the care team.
Orientation shifts provide the health care support worker with exposure to the various processes and procedures as well as the various roles on the care team, discussing how the health care support worker can support the role.
Approximately 30-44h
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Step five: Prerequisites for educational program
Ensure the health care support worker completes the pre-requisite learning requirements for admission to their educational training. These courses must be completed before they begin their post-secondary education program:
- English language proficiency test (if necessary)
- Foodsafe Level One
- CPR C and Standard First Aid
- Student Practice Education Core Orientation (SPECO) checklist which includes:
- Completing a N95 mask fit test
- Passing a Criminal record check
- Complete and return TB screening form provided by your post-secondary institute. If TB symptoms or risk factors are identified by the screening form, you must also obtain further TB assessment (i.e. via Public Health). Those who must obtain this assessment must provide documented proof to their post-secondary institute.
- Immunization against Covid-19 is a pre-requisite for admission to educational training. The following immunizations are also recommended:
- Chickenpox/Varicella
- Hepatitis B
- Measles
- Mumps
- Polio
- Rubella
- Tetanus
- Diphtheria
- Pertussis
- Meningococcal
- Influenza
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Step six: Ongoing education and support
Health care support worker community of practice
Provide information to the health care support worker about the monthly Community of Practice and encourage them to attend.
Contact hcap@fraserhealth.ca if you need help sourcing this information.
Approximately 1 hour/month
Orient your care team members to the health care support worker role
The health care support worker is a new position on the care team. It is essential that all members understand:
- the role of the health care support worker, what they can and cannot do.
- the impacts to the care team’s roles and responsibilities
- the supervision and the direction of health care support workers
The role of the health care support worker
The health care support worker role is non-clinical and non-direct. The role is intended to support the care team and the residents. Their role adds to the quality of life for the residents by spending one-to-one time with residents and helping care team members by freeing them up to provide more time providing clinical support to the residents.
Care team orientation resources:
These documents are provided for printing and distribution.
- Health Care Support Worker Site Orientation Powerpoint
- The health care support worker can/cannot do list.
- Health care support worker activities lists.
- Providing supervision/direction, daily assignment and oversight to health care support workers; A resource for long-term care/assisted living staff.
- Assigning the health care support worker activities and tasks: a decision-making algorithm.
Orient residents and families to the health care support worker role
It is important to provide information to the residents and their family members about the health care support worker role, so they know who the new staff member is and what their role is.
Resident and family orientation resources: