Ontario’s plan for personal support workers

I could have never said it this good. You are so right. You have my vote!!

Ah yes the infinite wisdom of the puppet masters in charge of determining what useless practices need to be implemented in order to keep them having projects to work on in order to justify their over paid government jobs.

I have been a PSW for 8 years and work for a government ran Long Term Care home. Every year they talk more and more about residents rights, dignity ect ect … and yet every year, residents have been given less one on one time, poorer quality of meals, cut backs on activities and more than anything else, a lessened quality of care provided by over worked PSW’s. Everything is about legal accountability these days, not about actual quality of care. If it looks good on paper, that’s all that matters. Our floors are overwhelmed with “safety devices” which sound high pitched alarms constantly. Residents have floor mat sensors, wheelchair sensors, wander guard door alarm sensors, bed alarm sensors and add that to the endless stream of call bells and psw’s pagers sounding, it sounding like you are living inside a firestation with non-stop fire to attend to. It’s insane, and not a comfortable environment which the government chooses now to call these people’s “Home”. In regards to the sensors, when a resident is a risk for falling, these devices are implemented to alert staff when the resident falls, but they do not provide the staff to PREVENT the resident from falling. As long as they show on paper they installed a safety device, they can’t be sued so its all good for them. What usually happens however, is a resident may have a fluke fall and so they immediately install a sensor alarm, the result is anytime the resident readjusts themselves in bed or ion their chair, the alarm sounds. These devices sound anywhere from 20-50 times during an 8hr shift causing psw’s to run and answer false alarms. We get bell fatigue, and like the boy who cried wolf, eventually we stop feeling urgency to answer them. Not to mention the poor resident who feels like they are in a high security prison. So this is dignity and their “home”??

This registry is just another cash grab and another way to make PSW’s more accountable. Since we are the front line workers and the lowest end of the healthcare scale, we are ALWAYS the fall guys. Now, it will be that much easier to put the blame on us. They add more and more to our work load, knowing full well we can’t fulfill the demands. When we do our 1.5hrs worth of charting every night they tell us to lie and say we have done restorative care and other tasks which had no time to do so they can provide funding which never seems to result in more staff. Then, when something goes wrong, the PSW takes the fall because we didn’t have the time or were to busy to properly take care of a situation which results in a resident falling or injuring themselves.

Oh, and as for the Cupe reps reading this. You make me sick. Your union doesn’t back us up in the slightest and you have allowed for MANY additional tasks to be put onto psw’s without any increase in pay. In the past year alone our charting has become computerized and went from 25mins to 1.5hrs. We now provide restorative care like rehab workers and now are officially responsible for applying and charting for medicated creams, not to mention the additional time spent now that prn behavior meds were discontinued and restraints removed created chaos on our floors which we not only have to try to control, but are also responsible for. Whats more, when your union reps come into meeting with us to “support” us, they side with our managers and don’t assist us in any way at all. Why? Because you don’t care! At the end of the day you get your pay cheque, provided by us!

One last thought about this registry. If you get reported within your home.. whether it be by a family member, fellow staff or even a resident who doesn’t even know their own name. You get suspended immediately until there is an investigation. If you are “innocent” of the allegations, you will still receive a “coaching letter”. This is the organizations way of covering their asses. Now, you will have a information being public on a psw registry. So even though you may have done NOTHING wrong and were “cleared” of it, they still record it in your record.

Look Out Fellow PSW’s, they are finding new and clever ways get rid of us before we can claim our pensions! Don’t be fooled by all the ‘Better Health Care” mumble jumble, it’s all politics and money. They talk about caring for our elderly but we are the ones who are actually doing it, the conditions we have to attempt it in, are horrendous.

You make me sick.

Just remember, one day it could be you in the homes you are in charge of right now. Ontario government officials need to ask themselves, “Would this be how and where I would want to spend the last years of my life?”

Im just curious to know how much of the governments budget is allocated for the funsing of psw?

Start with registry of PSWs. It will be mere counting but will tell where most PSWs received their education/training, how long ago, length of course, in Onario/Canada/other, etc. From this statistical information – decisions can be made on how to providetraing/education courses to upgrade those already in the field.
Meanwhile set standards for entry to the PSW program. Entry should be a secondary school diploma with reading and writing literacy competency in either French or English. Education programs for PSWs need to be certified
This will lead to a governing body for PSWs – the ultimate goal. PSWs should become registered as well as their education bodies to protect the public

Thank you Andreas Laupacis and Karen Born for covering this topic – it’s worthy of a Healthy Debate! The article is well researched and provides a balanced perspective on the current role of PSWs as understood, or more aptly, misunderstood by the public at large. Education is required all around.

I tend to agree with Gail Donner’s comment: “a registry is a mechanism of counting and it doesn’t ensure anything about quality, preparation or standards.” I remain unconvinced of the benefits of this PSW Registry but look forward to seeing how it affects the PSW workforce and if it will improve over time the quality of the care they provide.

In my opinion, what we need most is a ministry (MOHLTC) that will demonstrate leadership by clarifying the role of the PSW in long-term care, nursing homes, hospitals and yes, home care, and to consistently enforce high standards of care for the patients and residents receiving their care.

We also need the government and long-term care companies and hospitals to ensure that PSWs are trained well in terms of caring appropriately for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s for instance, as these patients/residents need specialized attention. The best PSWs I have met did not always have a lot of formal education, but they possessed a lot of common sense, compassion and an adaptable nature, yet these qualities unfortunately cannot be taught though they should be celebrated. PSWs should feel able to rely on consistent supervision and clear guidance from registered nursing staff and management, yet from my observation there is a lack of communication between PSWs and RPNs/RNs in a long term care home setting, and rarely in my experience is honest communication encouraged to include patients/residents and families. In home care, PSWs have even less support or supervision which should concern people.

Having said all that, PSWs are rarely afforded the time to properly perform the necessary tasks assigned to them and they often bear the brunt of complaints, sometimes unfairly, when care is compromised. They are not to my knowledge paid for their travel time or expense when visiting from home to home and in rural settings this reduces their income dramatically.

In my view, it is the leadership that must accept the bulk of responsibility when PSW care standards are low because those in command cannot help but be aware that it is next to impossible for PSWs to provide the kind of quality care for vulnerable people in stressful and demanding environments if and when they are overworked, under-compensated and too often unappreciated. A PSW registry will not address these realities.

There is also a lack of independent oversight of the entire healthcare system including long term care homes and hospitals where many PSWs work. Currently, the public is prevented from having the benefit of accountability via independent oversight by the Ontario Ombudsman although he and his team are ready and willing to provide it. I assert that a PSW Registry will do little to improve the standard of care in hospitals and long-term care homes or home care, but Ombudsman oversight would provide an immediate and direct incentive to elevate care standards. Only the government can make these decisions, but it is in both the PSWs and the public’s interest to have an independent oversight body in place when complaints arise. Are governments and long-term care companies willing to invest in accountable, quality care for the most helpless in our province or will they remain focused mainly on excuses that involve budgets or profits at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens?

I would suggest families whose loved ones depend upon the care of PSWs to make an effort to support the PSWs in their work, physically where possible, and emotionally too, as PSWs struggle to meet the complex needs of those relying upon them in less than ideal circumstances and with limited resources. Open communication between PSW and patient/resident and family can do so much to improve conditions for all concerned. I think PSW, Maureen Hylton makes an excellent point and I know many people who share her view. A good PSW can make a great difference, but Ontario Ombudsman oversight of long term care homes and hospitals has the potential to make the greatest difference of all.

Catherine Richards,
Cause for Concern: Ontario’s Long Term Care Homes (Facebook group)