New Education Standard for Personal Support Workers

In order to become a Personal Support Worker (PSW) in Ontario, you must pursue a personal support worker training program and obtain a diploma from an institution that is accredited by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities.

However, this was not the case in the past.

There were many private career colleges enrolling students in PSW programs with no standard curriculum.

As a result, the knowledge one would gain with these types of personal support worker programs proved inadequate when it came to performing the job duties.

There was no consistency in the curriculum required to become a Personal Support Worker.

PLANNING TO BECOME A PSW

If you are hoping to become a PSW in Ontario and want to have a personal support worker certificate, or are currently employed as one and would like to learn more about the new educational program standard for support workers, then this article is for you.

It will provide you with all the information that you will need.

Our objective is to provide you with relevant information regarding changes to the current personal support worker program requirements.

This will eventually enable you to make an informed choice as you embark on a career as a Personal Support Worker.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

When contacted for the purpose of this article, a Senior Practice Advisor for the PSW Network of Ontario who acted as a consultant in the development of the 1997 PSW educational standards indicated that:

“Individuals who are planning to enroll in a PSW course do their homework before applying to any program.”

Potential students are advised to ascertain whether or not both the school they wish to attend as well as its satellite campuses do, in fact, adhere to the new PSW educational standards (more on this ahead).

Oftentimes post-secondary institutions feature large campuses with branches in various cities that do not all meet the same criteria.

Many of you aren’t aware of this when you initially apply to these colleges.

Therefore if you are interested in embarking on a career as a support worker, you should ensure that you thoroughly research the educational institution and the PSW program they offer.

NEW PSW COMMON EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS

With an increasing amount of individuals seeking to embark on a career in the healthcare field, specifically as PSWs, the need to develop a more cohesive framework and standardized education became a priority for the province’s then government.

From 2012 to 2014, the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities partnered with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ministry of Education to develop a common vocational standard for Personal Support Worker programs.

And finally, in 2014, a new standard for Personal Support Workers in Ontario was developed in an effort to create a higher degree of consistency in both the educational system and within the profession itself.

The primary goal of this common vocational standard was to promote consistency in education and training outcomes across all educational institutions offering personal support worker courses.

These institutions include:

The new common standard was publicly released in 2014 for implementation starting in September 2015.

WHAT’S NEW IN PSW EDUCATION

The new standard is currently being adhered to by all Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, school boards and the majority of private colleges.

The sweeping 55-page document entitled the Personal Support Worker Program Standard, provides a comprehensive outline of PSW program delivery.

The ministry developed this new standard through consultations with various stakeholders including members of the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC) in addition to the Ontario Long Term Care Association and educational institutions such as La Cite Collegiale and Algonquin College.

MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

The most significant changes (in comparison to the previous standards) include the addition of the following components:

functional assessment,

acquired brain injury education,
enhancements in areas pertaining to sexuality, and
increased capacity building.

The new PSW educational standard further focuses on the following areas of learning:

PSW PROGRAM STANDARD

This ensures that graduates of the program are able to effectively provide supportive and direct care to patients/clients who suffer from either

mental health issues,

physical disabilities, or
cognitive impairments across their lifespans.

Having this component in the new PSW program ensures you gain the skills, knowledge base and both practical and theoretical education to obtain an entry-level position in a multitude of settings.

Upon completion of a PSW program that follows the new educational standards, you will also gain the ability to develop efficient and collaborative working relationships with your colleagues while ensuring the highest standards of care.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The new PSW educational program standard outlines “elements of performance” which you will learn as you complete the program.

Some of these performance elements are:

communication,
respect towards individual dignity and autonomy, and
the need to identify individual family structures.

Graduates are thus provided with the skills and knowledge to not only provide assistance with daily living; those who have completed the program are also expected to fully grasp several major fundamental concepts as well.

The concepts include, but are not limited to:

client-centered, supported, end-of-life and culturally relevant community care,

helping relationship, responsive behaviors,
general makeup, and
the functionality of an inter-professional care team.

ESSENTIAL EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS (EES)

This is a very important addition to the new standard.

It ensures that you not only be taught how to perform optimal support services but also how to be successful in the job market.

Essential Employability Skills are considered to be “critical” in the workplace as well as in daily living and for the purposes of lifelong learning.

These pertinent skills can potentially assist you in making yourself more marketable in the workforce and thus increase your likelihood of securing employment.

The Essential Employability Skills (EES) that you’ll learn as part of the new curriculum standard are:

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Information Management
Interpersonal (skills)
Personal (skills)

Communication
Numeracy
Literacy

The new standard uses many learning objectives that are intended to essentially evaluate your ability to demonstrate the skills in question upon completion of the program.

For example,

for critical thinking and problem solving, you would be required to demonstrate the ability to:

apply a systematic approach to problem-solving, and
use a variety of thinking skills to anticipate and solve problems.

Conversely, for interpersonal skills, you will be expected to

show respect for the diverse opinions, values, belief systems and contributions of others
interact with others in groups or teams in ways that contribute to effective working relationships and the achievement of goals.

The new education standard identifies various different themes that educational institutions that offer PSW programs are advised to utilize as a guide when determining the PSW program structure.

In sum, the new education standard includes amendments made to the curriculums of 4 different bodies that offer personal support worker programs:

Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology which had previously used a Ministry of Training and Colleges and Universities Standard
Private career colleges which had previously used the curriculum provided by the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC)

School boards used a standard provided by the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA), which had its own process called the PSW Educational Program Accreditation process (PEPA)

Note* The fourth body is not covered under the new legislation and is comprised of companies or organizations that provide educational programming as a “3rd party” to PSWs employed through staffing agencies.

CONCLUSION

The educational standards established for PSWs in Ontario have undergone significant change over the last two decades.

Personal Support Workers are in demand and as such, programs and courses designed to prepare you to enter the workforce have increased commensurately.

However, unlike registered health care professionals who are protected under regulations outlined in their respective acts, up until recently, no clear standard had existed with respect to the education and training of prospective support workers.

The lack of consistency and clarity frustrated stakeholders including individuals looking to pursue a career as a PSW as well as employers, which ultimately served to create a systemic imbalance within the field.

Although standards were outlined in 1997, they often were not adhered to by employers and ceased being an effective means to create consistency with respect to educating PSWs.

As a result, the stipulations made in the 2007 Long-Term Care Homes Act began to be followed instead.

However, the variances that were inherent in the document did not serve to mitigate the issues that many individuals working within the PSW field often criticized.

With the new education standard for PSWs, hopefully, a significantly higher degree of consistency, efficiency, and clarity develops across the board.

Thus, you can expect to receive an education that will ensure that you and all new PSWs will have the same skills, knowledge, and expertise upon entering the field.

Therefore in doing so, you will be able to obtain the standard of education that PSWs require, enabling you to provide the best care possible for those in need of it both now, as well as in the future.

Resources you’ll need to become a Personal Support Worker

On this page, you can find anything there is to know about how to become a personal support worker, how to succeed as one, and how to continue your education. This is the place to come to and look for all the PSW resources and information that you may need on your journey as a Personal Support Worker.

PSW job interview questions

If you’re determined to pass your next PSW interview with flying colours, we’re here to help. PSWHQ have put together a thorough online guide with PSW interview questions and appropriate sample answers to these questions that hit the target, and are concise and supportive.

Performing well in the interview is just one part of many others needed to secure a PSW Job. First and foremost, you’ll need to have an impeccable résumé and cover letter in order to be called for an interview.

Guide to finding PSW jobs

After you have decided to become a Personal Support Worker and completed the course you are now at a point to start looking for work. It is important that you explore all the jobs listed under different job titles, which is why you should go through our ultimate guide to finding PSW jobs.

We also help you find PSW job postings from hospitals, long-term care homes, and community and private settings.

Advertising with PSWHQ

Over the past few years, PSWHQ has achieved a dominant ranking in major search engines such as Google and Bing. As a result, we offer a limited number of advertising opportunities to individuals, colleges, companies, and organizations we see as a good fit for the unique audience of PSWHQ.

FAQs

1. Are PSW regulated in Ontario?

The Personal Support Work profession and related topics are not heavily regulated in Ontario. This generally means that there is no single governing body. Those working in the nursing field have to visit CNOs, for instance. PSWs, on the other hand, have separate regulatory bodies.

2. Is there an exam for PSW in Ontario?

Yes, there is an exam for the PSW in Ontario. To qualify to take the exam you must take the NACC Exam (All PSW students are required to do their NACC exam at the end of the program.)

3. Is PSW exam hard?

The PSW examination is difficult, so you will need to practice more hours to be able to go to school for it. Take this test and get your body and mind ready for the final exam. Share these results with your friends to see who among the friends is better informed about PSW.

4. What is NACC exam for PSW?

The NACC final exam is an Internet-based appraisal that evaluates the theory aspect of the training and determines whether the candidate has the required level of knowledge to do the job safely and effectively.

5. How long does it take to get NACC exam results?

Approximately eight weeks after the last day of the assessment session, you will receive a message to inform you by email and message in your physiciansapply.ca account that you can view the National Assessment Collaboration Examination final result (e.g., failed, passed) through your my account.

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