How to Become a Personal Support Worker

Often called “the ultimate people’s job,” Personal Support Workers bring care, compassion and skill to their clients.

Your Day To Day Tasks Will Include

Personal Support Workers, or PSWs, bring skill and compassion to the workplace. They play a crucial role in the healthcare system by providing care, comfort and support to clients who are aging, chronically ill or have physical and/or mental disabilities that require them to have assistance in their day to day lives.

PSWs manage the different responsibilities related to a client’s overall physical and emotional care. These include helping with bathing, dressing and undressing, administering medication, and assisting with personal hygiene and nutrition. PSWs assist licensed practitioners with exercise or physical therapy, provide transportation to medical appointments and health care sessions and perform basic medical services like checking blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Routine housekeeping duties such as laundry and light cleaning are often required as well.

Perhaps most importantly, Personal Support Workers interact with clients and their family members to provide companionship, answer questions and create a cheerful and positive experience for everyone involved.

Is This Career Right For Me?

Personal Support Workers must complete an approved diploma program in order to get the training needed to handle all of the duties that will be required of them. It can be a physically and emotionally demanding career, so the ability to multi-task, organize and prioritize is crucial. PSWs should be compassionate and empathic, have a cheerful and friendly demeanour and keep calm even in difficult circumstances.

Personal Support Workers must be committed to bringing safety and dignity to their clients and show the utmost respect for the confidentiality of the client’s condition and treatment. Being a Personal Support Worker is sometimes referred to as “the ultimate people’s job,” and the bonds that are built between worker and patient are often very deep and long-lasting. It’s a career in which you can really make a difference.

Where Are The Jobs?

The employment outlook for PSWs is excellent, particularly as Canada’s population continues to age and the elderly community requires more personal assistance to maintain a dignified quality of life.

Qualified Personal Support Workers can find meaningful employment in nursing homes, retirement residences, convalescence centres, hospitals, day centres, Alzheimer’s or other mental health programs, hospices and many more.

Where Can I Study?

Here are just some of the colleges that offer diploma programs that will qualify you to work as a Personal Support Worker:

• triOS College, Ontario
• Best Care Academy, Ontario
• CTS Canadian Career College
• Canadian Health Care Academy
• Canadian College of Health, Science and Technology
• Cestar College of Business, Health & Technology
• Canadian Technology College
• Canadian All Care College
• KLC College
• Eastern College
• Oxford College
• Windsor Career College