PSW trainees gain insight through partnership
Eight students at Rosebridge Manor  learn the ropes
Wednesday April 9, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
An educational partnership between Rosebridge Manor and the Upper Canada District School Board is being well-received by students, facilitators and the home’s staff members.

As part of the partnership, eight students, aged 20 to 44, are spending 180 hours this month getting on-the-job experience at the Jasper long-term care home.

From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday, the students are learning about all the basic skills that come with being a personal support worker (PSW).

The hands-on work experience accompanies classroom time the students have already completed. Upon finishing their placements at Rosebridge Manor, the students will return to the classroom.

The students came to the home April 1, accompanied by clinical instructor Leanne Clipsham.

“The students couldn’t have found a better (home) to do their placement,” says Clipsham of Rosebridge Manor. “The staff is wonderful. They’ve been very welcoming, open, friendly and willing to share all their expertise.”

From her perspective, Clipsham says the students have benefited from the practical experience of working in the home, adding that classroom learning and on-the-job learning are very different things.

Students in the program are practising all the basic tasks that come with being a PSW, including feeding, toileting and bathing residents in a long-term care setting.

“Now the textbook learning is becoming real and more meaningful,” says Clipsham, adding that she believes OMNI homes offer students excellent opportunities to learn about long-term care.

“The whole philosophy of OMNI is astounding,” she says. “The students enjoy that atmosphere of learning. They have a wonderful philosophy and they practise that philosophy.”

Linda George, one of the students participating in the program, says her time at the home has been fruitful.

Working as a PSW, she says, fits well with her personality. George also acknowledges that long-term care homes throughout the sector need more PSWs and this was one of the deciding factors for her when she signed up for the program.

“I love it, I just love it,” she says. “I’m a people person and I love the people here. . . . I like the hands-on (experience). I love it when they let us come into the homes.”

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