PeopleWorx

CONTINUING CARE ASSISTANT

The Continuing Care Industry

Continuing Care plays a major role in Nova Scotia's health care system. Continuing Care is a branch of the Nova Scotia Department of Health which provides for home care, long term care and adult protection services. Continuing Care Assistants fit in the Continuing Care components of home care and long term care.

Continuing Care recognizes that Nova Scotia citizens need care and support in their home and/or community. Nova Scotians contact Continuing Care, because they:

• Wants to maximize their independence in his/her home and community.

• Wants to access long term care services.

• Wants to access adult protection services for self or another.

• Wants information about other community resources.

Again services provided by Continuing Care include home care, long term care and adult protection. Home care services include home support, personal care, nursing, home oxygen, and respite. Long term care includes facilities, such as nursing homes/homes for the aged, small option homes, community residences, and residential care facilities. Adult protection services are provided to persons 16 years of age and over, who lack the physical or mental ability to adequately care for themselves and who are in need of protection against abuse or neglect.

On April 1, 2006 the Department of Health's hiring policies for direct care and support service workers changed to a CCA Education Entry-to-Practice Policy. All persons hired in this role for the first time in either nursing homes/homes for the aged or home support agencies serving Department of Health clients must have CCA Certification. However, previously employed direct care and support services workers including HSWs, PCWs or HHPs may continue to be employed in their field.

History of the Continuing Care Assistant Program

In July 1999, the amalgamation of three health care courses was announced by the Nova Scotia Department of Health. The combination consisted of the Personal Care Workers course, the Home Support Workers course and the Home Health Care Workers course. The result was the creation of the Continuing Care Assistant (CCA) program. When CCA students graduate, they are eligible to work with home support agencies or in nursing homes/homes for the aged environment. CCAs also have opportunities for employment in other continuing care organizations and hospital settings.

Why was the decision made to amalgamate the three existing programs? Over several years numerous education programs for specialized workers in the long term care and home support areas were introduced. While there were many similarities among the program's curricula, students were graduating with different titles and skill sets. Employers were not always aware of the competencies associated with these various programs. Graduates were often restricted to employment in one section of the broad continuing care field. As Nova Scotia moves toward a more fully integrated health system, greater consistency among the education programs was required. The new program offers the graduates more employment options while providing the client with reassurance that they are being assisted by a qualified individual that has met provincially-established standards.

Continuing Care Assistant (CCA) Course Structure

You will learn about :

Ø       The continuing care sector

Ø       Personal and professional development

Ø       Communication and interpersonal relations

Ø       Environmental safety, personal health and well being

Ø       Body mechanics, positioning and transferring

Ø       Household management

Ø       Growth and development

Ø       Body structure, functions and medical conditions

Ø       Personal care, special treatments and conditions

Ø       Nutrition and meal preparation

Ø       Rest, exercise and meaningful activity

Ø       Family violence prevention, mental health and substance abuse

Ø       Basic Pediatrics

You will gain on the job experiences through three clinical placements:

Placement I: includes 30 hours in a licensed level II, nursing home/home for the aged under the supervision of a teaching supervisor.  All students must complete Placement I before advancing to Placement II.

Placement II: includes 80 hours in a licensed level II, nursing home/home for the aged under the supervision of a teaching supervisor (RN) and 50 hours with a home support agency under the supervision of a registered nurse and partnered with a mentor from the home support agency. * All students must complete Placement II before advancing to the Placement III.

Placement III: applies the lessons taught in the classroom, lab time to a work place environment. Fifty hours is completed with a home support agency and 120 hours is completed in a licensed level II, nursing home/home for the aged. Students apply their theory and skills in the workplace as they work in partnership with a mentor.

The primary instructor maintains regular contact with the placement agencies/facilities, either in person or by telephone, throughout the duration of the program. The primary instructor is available to the student throughout the complete duration of the program. The primary instructor will make frequent checks on the students throughout the placements, including placement III, and will ensure that the placement hours are being tracked.

Additional Certificates/Workshops Include:  

• Nova Scotia Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementia Care Course

• WHMIS Awareness (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System)

• Introduction to OH&S Act

• Food Handler's Course -- Department of Agriculture or Basic food safety from the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism

• First Aid/CPR Level C from either St. Johns Ambulance or Red Cross

• Cancer Care Nova Scotia’s Palliative Care Front-line Education (September 2007)

There are at a minimum of:

• 436 hours of class and lab time

• 100 hours of home support field placement

• 230 hours in a long term care field placement

NOTE: All course hours are direct service and class hours. These hours do not include lunch, coffee breaks or travel time.

What else do you need to know?

• Clinical Placements and Work Experience Mentorship in both long term care and home support agencies must be successfully completed in order to graduate.

• Placement agencies may require an interview before accepting students for clinical experience.

• Students are required to provide their own transportation to clinical placements and to the work experience mentorship.

• Due to confidentiality issues and the requirements of traveling from one home to another during home care placements, students are unable to have others drive them to sites.

• Shift work is an integral part of this occupation.

• Physical demands include moving and lifting others as well as spending long periods of time on one's feet.

• Emotional demands include frequent stressful and occasional emergency situations.

• There is an additional registration fee with the Continuing Care Assistant Advisory Committee that is collected with the September tuition.

• Students who successfully complete all components of the program are eligible to write the provincial exam, which is administered by the Nova Scotia Continuing Care Advisory Committee.

• Students are required to complete the course within two years.

What are we looking for?

• compassionate, caring and patient people

• Someone who enjoys spending time with seniors and those who are challenged by disability or illness

• Outgoing and an effective communicator

• Someone who can read at a grade 10 level (based on a CAAT test)

• Someone who has access to transportation

• No criminal record

• 3 professional references

• Someone who can commit to the program and is passionate about becoming a CCA.

For more information, please contact Marian Gerrits, Administrative Assistant

mgerrits@peopleworx.ca or 902-679-7574