Personal Support Workers working in long-term care, assisted living, community and home care settings are in such high demand that taking the night off to attend the St. Louis PSW Graduation could take some negotiating with colleagues and employers.

 

Of course, any graduation is a milestone worth celebrating. Tonight, 79 St. Louis trained Personal Support Workers will earn their certificate recognized by the Ministry of Long-Term Care and the Ontario Community Support Association accrediting body. During this 8 – month program, St. Louis PSW students put in a total of  497 hours of in-class and lab training, 135 hours of placement in the community and another 180 at a long-term care facility.

 

Two-thirds of the PSW graduates completed their training in the Spring and have been working ever since.  The remaining just completed their CESBA testing this week and are working right away.  St. Louis PSW graduates are sought after by local employers and we have a current employability rate of 98%. The extensive hands-on learning and teaching by experienced Registered Nurses; the longest supervised placement opportunities and the additional certificates in Gentle Persuasive Approach (GPA) and Palliative Care all contribute to their employment readiness.

 

AND whether students joined the PSW program with a completed Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or not, they automatically earned 6 secondary school elective credits that will be applied to their transcript.  These credits are a bonus for anyone with their sights on post-secondary pursuits down the road.

 

For PSW Valedictorian, Erin Crockatt, tonight will be her second graduation in a week, as she walked to receive her OSSD last Friday night and crosses the same path tonight for her PSW certificate. Right now, Erin and all of her graduating peers are simply looking forward to a night off of work…. Even if they have an early morning Saturday shift.

 

St. Louis PSW Training enrolment information:

Attend Intake/information session: Monday, November 26 at 9:00am at St. Louis Kitchener Main Campus, 80 Young St., Kitchener or contact St. Louis 519-745-1201 x288 / stlouis@wcdsb.ca