Job Description
ROLE
Under the direction and supervision of registered nursing staff, the PSW shall provide direct basic personal and nursing care to the residents in accordance with the standards and guidelines of the Long Term Care Homes Act. The PSW’s will provide for the individual needs of the assigned residents in accordance with the residents’ health care plans through the maintenance of the residents’ optimum level of functioning physically, emotionally, socially, culturally, intellectually and spiritually.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Ensures and promotes the provision of resident-centred services to meet the needs of residents as follows:
Supports and helps provide a Resident Advocacy Program though the promotion and respect of the Bill of Rights.
Promotes the philosophy and practices of resident centeredness and humanizing in all residents’ encounters and decisions. Promotes the Resident’s Bill of Rights.
Respects and uses sensitivity in spiritual, cultural and ethnic aspects of a resident’s life.
Maintains a wellness perspective.
Supports residents in achieving quality experiences – personal and social.
Facilitates relationships between and among residents, relatives, staff and community.
Seeks opportunities for resident participation in decisions that affect the resident’s rights and lifestyle.
Monitors and improves attitudes and behaviours of family and staff to ensure inclusion of residents in decisions regarding their care.
Creates opportunities for individuals to make choices and to take actions that will enhance the resident’s sense of mastery.
Creates a comfortable and safe environment that provides opportunities for privacy, dignity, control and maintenance of personal lifestyle.
Communicates with, and supports families in their involvement and participation.
Ensures an environment with ambiance conducive to the provision and practice of therapeutically effective resident health care, yet be unobtrusive.
2. Provides supervision and/or assistance to the residents in the activities of daily living including eating, dressing, transferring, toileting, hygiene, grooming and bathing as per the residents’ individual plan of care to meet their needs and expectations as follows:
Maintains the highest level of functioning
Promotes independence by allowing choices such as which clothes to wear today
Promotes individual preferences and past practices
Improves the function in the specific personal care area
Uses assistive and adaptive measures as ordered
Provides restorative care and rehabilitation care as directed Observes and reports any changes in the resident such as “unusual or different” aspects of their “norm” to the registered staff Record in “Point of Care”
Continuously monitors and improves the quality of the care provided.
3. Provides care and services to the residents with respect to their senses and communication as follows:
Encourages residents to wear sensory aids such as glasses, hearing aides
Cares for these same sensory aids such as cleaning and making accessible
Speaks clearly, look at the resident when speaking, in a well modulated tone
Reports any repairs required to the registered staff
Ensures sensory aids, such as glasses, hearing aids, etc are labelled.
4. Provides oral and dental care as follows:
Provides individual mouth care to residents as indicated in care plan
Provides dentures to each resident if applicable at morning care and removes at bedtime and stores appropriately
Cleans teeth or dentures after each meal
Observes for mouth, tongue or dental problems, in particular breath smell
Ensures each resident’s dentures are labelled.
5. Provides for and implements preventative and safety measures and reports unsafe conditions such as the removal of “sharps” from resident’s rooms, foot rests, and side rails, as per care plan and notifies the housekeeping department of broken glass, china, and remove spills on floors.
6. Provides for and assists in achieving the residents’ nutritional needs as follows:
Prepares and assists residents to and from dining room as requested or required.
Assists residents in choosing their food preferences
Provides dining room service to residents
Assists and supervises residents with feeding at meal and snack times
Follows special instructions for individual feeding and swallowing problems of a resident
Assists and instructs residents in the use of self-care feeding devices
Positions residents as determined in care plan for feeding
Feeds residents at their own pace
Feeds food one food at a time conversing with resident and identifying each as given
Includes residents in conversations during meals
Reports and records significant observations (e.g. food and fluid intake, hydration)
Complete food and fluid intake sheets after each meal and snack
7. Determines change in skin integrity and implementation of skin care to prevent:
Report skin breakdown to the registered staff
Maintains body temperature
Reports changes in residents skin integrity to registered staff (i.e. red areas, rashes, skin tears, etc)
8. Provides for and assists with resident’s elimination needs as determined in the individual care plan as follows:
Administers and removes bed pans and urinals
Assists residents to and from commode chairs or toilets Follows bowel and bladder protocols and incontinent care protocols
Follows Rehabilitation toileting programs
9. Promotes and maintains skin integrity as indicated in the individual resident care plan to promote comfort and mobility
10 . Provides routine personal care and bathing as scheduled: Inspects each resident’s feet and nails and reports problems to the registered staff
Provides skin care measures for altered skin integrity as indicated on care plan and reports results to the registered staff.
Offer two baths per week
11. Provides comfort, rest and sleep to residents in their physical environment, positioning, and health treatment and care routines. Provides bedtime routine to each resident as per care plan Minimizes the disruptions to each resident’s sleep
Reports residents’ pain to the registered staff immediately Provides care as per care plan to manage residents’ pain Uses positioning aids as per care plan to promote comfort
Uses palliative care philosophy as per care plan.
12. Provides support services to meet the needs of the residents as follows:
Provides safety, and reports the need for maintenance to the registered staff
Uses sanitation and infection control procedures
Provides for removal of waste to the dirty utility room
Cleans hydrotherapy units, tubs, shower chairs and lift chairs with a germicidal cleaner
Promptly identifies and addresses incidents of offensive odor Follows safe practices in use of hazardous substances including maintaining locked areas for chemicals
Maintains, stores and removes resident clothing which needs repairing
Cleans residents’ closets and personal areas.
13. Assists in financial management as follows:
Adheres to the home’s policy and procedures as directed by Senior Management regarding finances.
14. Participates in materiel management of the home as follows: Uses supplies for resident care appropriately as directed by Registered staff
Reports any equipment malfunctions to Registered staff and puts in maintenance book at care center
Assists with inventory control
Provides input into selection of equipment or supplies as requested
15. Participates in human resource management as follows: Follows all human resources policies and procedures Reports to work for each scheduled shift on time
Remains at work for each scheduled shift until replacement worker arrives
Assists with orientation of new staff and students
Participates in staff in-service and education sessions Participates with student placements within the home
16. Participates in records management as follows: Document as care is completed in “Point of Care” (POC) Completes documentation prior to the end of the shift Completes documentation required on any incidents
17. Participates in the home’s quality management as follows: Participates as requested on the home’s teams/committees Participates in quality improvement initiatives as requested
18 . Other duties as assigned.
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:
Work in team cooperation with: Registered Nurse
Registered Practical Nurse Resident Care Manager Assistant Director of Care Director of Care
Managers
All other Staff
QUALIFICATIONS:
Personal Support Worker certificate
One year experience in a long term care facility is an asset. Proficiency in oral and written English; have a keen interest in working with the elderly, work rotating shifts
Medical certificate of good health
Advocacy
Providing support to residents who are on palliative care; and their families
Providing crisis intervention
Assist residents and their families with on-going issues Experience with psycho geriatric nursing services an asset
Participates as a team player and cooperates with other departments
Must possess patience and tact dealing with residents needs, families and dealing with multiple demands at one time
Must be organized and able to set priorities
Must have a genuine interest in the care of the elderly Practices in a professional manner
Respects the rights of individuals, not imposing one’s beliefs on others
Demonstrates honesty and integrity in all work dealings Maintains confidentiality
WORKING CONDITIONS
Combination of natural light and fluorescent lighting
Use of mechanical lifts for resident lifts and transfers
Crouching, kneeling, stooping/bending for short periods of time: minor job function
Walking: major job function
Standing for lengths of time, up to 3 hours: major function Carries and transports objects of various sizes, to a maximum of 25 lbs (usually 5-15): minor job function
Pushing, turning, stooping, bending, reaching and lifting, while assisting residents with their care, working with equipment such as mechanical lifts, making beds and other related tasks Caution with chemicals and water: carbolizing beds, sanitizing of equipment or extended exposure to water – must follow MSDS protocols and Health and Safety Protocols
Finger/hand dexterity: using equipment and aids
Smell: detecting odors in environment
Reading: reports, memos, charting, minutes, manuals, etc Listening: resident communication, conferring with staff, verbal reports, instructions
Concentration: constant interruptions
Peacekeeping role: with residents, families and multidisciplinary team members
Unpredictability of events: crisis intervention
Expectations: meeting daily workload within allotted time Public relations: community, student, resident’s and families
Benefits:
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Casual
Salary: $19.00 /hour
Work remotely
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Casual
Pay: $25.00 per hour
Expected hours: 8 – 44 per week
Additional pay:
Benefits:
- Extended health care
- Flexible schedule
- On-site parking
Schedule:
- 8 hour shift
- Day shift
- Monday to Friday
- Night shift
- On call
- Overtime
- Weekends as needed
Work Location: In person
