registered practical nurse

support worker

préposé au service de soutien personnel

residential aide

registered nurse

Helen Henderson Care Centre

A Typical Day At Work:
First thing in the morning we would sit down for report and get our resident assignments for the day. After report, we would rouse the residents assigned to us and assist them with their morning ADL's before breakfast. As most of the residents were not independently mobile, we would then porter them to the dining area and then assist with passing out meals, drinks, getting tea and coffee and feeding the residents. After breakfast, we would residents are satisfied, cleaned up and portered back to their rooms, the common area, the game room or anywhere else of their preference. I would then start stripping and carbolizing beds based on a monthly list we had to keep track, or I would assist in the shower room with baths for the remainder of the day.
Lunch time, the same tasks for breakfast would be repeated and once lunch was over and all of the residents were back where they wished to be, the beds that were carbolized would be made back up and rooms would be tidied, other beds would be made if not done already and then soiled towels would be collected from their rooms and replaced with clean ones which normally lasted until the end of the day when my other classmates and I would gather in the conference room with my instructor and discuss things that happened that day.

What I Learned:
Almost every hands-on task that I am capable of doing now, I learned while at Helen Henderson. During my theory portion of the PSW course, we had a "lab" which consisted of two hospital beds, realistic dummies and all the necessities it would take to learn how to perform certain tasks, although it was nothing like the real thing. Once we got out in the field to our first Clinical Practicum, we really got to see what it was like to do all of these things for/on a real person.

Management:
Management at Helen Henderson was nothing short of awesome. Although they were always very busy and had a lot on their plates, they were always willing to help when needed, offer advice, assistance and be there when you needed them.

My Co-Workers:
Their were some I got along with famously, and others I avoided. It was a typical situation of certain people only being there for the money, not because they enjoyed the job. Some of them made it very hard for the students to feel comfortable and confident, and some of them were more than willing to teach and help out whenever necessary. I was fortunate enough to be paired with an amazing preceptor every day and I learned a lot from all of them.

The Hardest Part Of The Job:
At first, the hardest part of the job was getting into the daily routine well enough to be able to independently provide care for 6 individual residents on a daily basis and prioritizing my time to get things done quickly and efficiently. After I got into the swing of that, the hardest part was then watching how some of the other staff treated the residents and reminding myself that I was only a student and therefore, didn't have enough experience of my own to be able to speak up to someone who has years experience. It was very tough for me see some of the things that I saw but within the rest of the group of students and my instructors, I had a good support system and could always turn to them when I needed to.

The Most Enjoyable Part Of The Job: 
My favorite part of the job was the gratitude shown by the residents for everything you did for them on a daily basis. There's no better feeling than being appreciated for your hard work.

My experience working here was very disappointing. Management provided little to no support, and communication was poor. Even though I regularly checked in and was told I was doing well, I was suddenly let go during probation without warning or clear explanation. There was no opportunity for feedback or improvement, and I felt disrespected by how the situation was handled. The environment was unprofessional, and the evening RPN staff in the lodge are consistently unprofessional and engage in constant gossip, no matter how much you try not to get involved. I would not recommend this workplace to others looking for a supportive and fair employer 

Can be a fun place to work. Most staff are friendly and helpful, others are miserable and unapproachable. Some weeks there are low supplies such as wipes and briefs. Understaffed like most places. Would be nice to actually have a competitive wage like their job posting suggests, pays under most of the homes in the area. Some management is unapproachable. The residents make up for where the job place is lacking. 

It is very stressful and dramatic, most new employees don't stay and longterm employees can be grumpy and unapproachable due to their own stress with their working environment. Very understaffed and lacking in basic supplies at times. Feels like you are being taken advantage of most days.

The ADOC is unprofessional, doesn’t care about the employees or work/life balance.  Expects you to work anytime on your time off and if you say no then expect an uncomfortable working environment.  No professional respect for staff who go above and beyond. The nurses and PSW’s are amazing but management sucks!!! Do not walk....run!!!!

Ratio of staff to residents is low, especially with the amount of call ins. Always working short handed decreases morale and puts added pressure on the staff that show up to get the same amount of work completed. Supplies are not very well managed, so when you are looking for something to treat a wound for example, you never have what you want/need. There are definitely many good aspects to the job, but room for improvement

Most importantly, remember who’s home your in; the residents. Maintain a positive attitude and be respectful towards residents, staff and management. Focus primarily on your purpose for being there and mind your own business. If you maintain those three points continuously, you will do fine. 
Otherwise, it is not a place for you to be working. 

Great first job for evenings and weekends as a high school student. Lots of training to keep up to date on expectations and health and safety practices. Over 4 years there I climber a seniority ladder and learnt a lot abut how to train my new co workers as I was leaving. A great job to mend you into a strong team worker.

The residence definitely for Lodge make it worthwhile coming in to work along with most coworkers. Management is awful. Anybody that is in the Union doesn't have your back, they'll tell you one thing and then when you're in the meeting they take management side every time.

I love working there, the residents and staff are the best
I am not there to make friends, that would help although...l am there for the residents and take care of them.....

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Registered practical nurse 6 salaries reported	$38.22 per hour
Support worker 9 salaries reported	$25.86 per hour
Préposé au service de soutien personnel 6 salaries reported	$26.41 per hour
Residential aide 2 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Registered nurse 5 salaries reported	$39.12 per hour

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